Photo via: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Stacey Abrams became the nation’s first Black woman to win a major party’s nomination for governor, there’s was another Georgia woman making some history of her own. Her name is Ronda Colvin-Leary, now the first Black judge ever elected in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
“I’m just humbled that so many people believed in me,” Colvin-Leary told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And I think it’s significant also because I had the support of a lot of people, I had bipartisan support… I think why that means so much to me is that people looked past the race (of the candidates).”
The newly elected judge was raised in a small town in Alabama and went on to attend Auburn University and obtain her law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law. After being admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2001, Colvin-Leary worked for the Atlanta Municipal Court and the DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office. She’s been managing a private law practice for the last eleven years, and currently serves as a Solicitor for the city of Winder.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there will be no need for a second election in November due to the fact that Gwinnett’s local judicial races are nonpartisan, making Colvin-Leary’s win over her opponent Lance Tyler final.
“This is a wonderful time in the history of Gwinnett County,” said Renita Hamilton Edmonson, the former President of the NAACP Gwinnett County Branch. “The significance of this event reflects the spirit of diversity, the melting of prejudices and welcomed change.”