Keisha Waites

Keisha Waites
Keisha Waites

Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 60th district Incumbent Assumed office February 13, 2012 Preceded by Gloria Tinubu Personal details Born Atlanta, Georgia 1972 Democratic Atlanta, Georgia Emergency management consultant www.keishawaites.com [1]

Political party Residence Occupation Website

Keisha Sean Waites (born 1972) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, she was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives on February 7, 2012, in a special election to fill the 60th district seat left vacant by Gloria Tinubu's resignation. District 60 includes southeast Atlanta, Hapeville, and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties. She was sworn in on February 13, 2012.

Early life and career

Born in 1972 at Grady Hospital, Waites attended Southside Comprehensive High School (now known as Maynard H. Jackson High School) in Atlanta and graduated in 1991. She attended Georgia Southern University, concentrating in political science. Waites is a former chief of staff to State Rep. Sheila Jones. She has served on the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board, the boards of the Atlanta Commission on Women, the National Women's Political Caucus-Atlanta Chapter, Georgia Stonewall Democrats, Fulton County Democratic Party Executive Board, and NAACP-Atlanta chapter. Outside of politics, Waites has worked on a contract basis as an intergovernmental affairs officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also worked for the U.S. Small Business Administration as a commercial loan

Keisha Waites specialist.

Political career
Before winning election to the state legislature in 2012, Waites mounted seven unsuccessful campaigns for elected office: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 2001: Atlanta City Council, at-large post 1 (as Sean Waites) 2002: State Senate, District 36: placed fourth in the Democratic primary 2005: Atlanta City Council 2006: Fulton County Commission 2008: State House, District 61: lost primary runoff 2009: Atlanta City Council 2011: Fulton County Commission: lost runoff

In addition, Waites applied for an appointment to the Atlanta City Council in 2004, one of four candidates who put themselves forward to temporarily fill a vacant seat. The council did not select Waites for the vacancy, choosing Esther Stewart-Moseley instead.[2] Her 2011 run for the Fulton County Commission pitted her against Joan Garner, also an openly-lesbian African-American. In the primary election, Waites finished first but failed to win an absolute majority, forcing her into a runoff with Garner. Garner won the runoff and was elected unopposed in the general election. Waites's qualified for the District 60 House seat on January 9, 2012. In the special election, she took 54.2 percent of the vote (321 votes) compared to 18.6 percent (110 votes) for Theresa Middlebrooks and 27.2 percent (161 votes) for Latrenka Riley, thus avoiding a runoff. Waites will defend her seat in the 2012 legislative election, in which all 180 seats are up for contest.

Personal
Waites is a lesbian. She is one of three openly gay members of the Georgia General Assembly, alongside Representatives Karla Drenner (DAvondale Estates), and Simone Bell (DAtlanta).

References
[1] http:/ / www. keishawaites. com [2] Atlanta City Council: Submission Applications, May 13, 2004 (http:/ / citycouncil. atlantaga. gov/ 2004/ Images/ Adopted/ 0517/ 04c0896. pdf), accessed February 8, 2012

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Keisha Waites Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=568988523 Contributors: AChaseRandall, Bearcat, Bgwhite, Bmclaughlin9, KwakuMac, Lincolnite, RayneVanDunem, SatyrTN, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, 6 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Keisha Sean Waites.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Keisha_Sean_Waites.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Waites family

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/