Meet the Georgia State Senate District 20 candidates – GA State Senator Larry Walker III

Running for his third term representing District 20, Senator Larry Walker said that it has been a privilege to work for the people of Georgia since his initial election to the office in 2015. Walker was born and raised in Perry, Georgia and got his earliest education at the Westfield schools before heading to the University of Georgia where he earned a BBA degree, majoring in finance.

“I did a brief stint in the corporate accounting department of the Coca-Cola Company on North Avenue in Atlanta,” Walker said as he shared a bit of his background. “Then Adrienne and I decided that we didn’t really want to raise a family in Atlanta, so we moved to Dublin where I opened a branch of Walker-Rhodes Tractor Company.”

Adrienne is Walker’s wife of 35 years, and together, they have three sons. He shared that after five years, he closed the business he started in Dublin and returned to his roots. “We came back to Perry, and not long after that, I founded Walker Insurance Agency in 1996. I started that business from scratch. I’m the president and CEO, and I have a business partner, Brince Coody. There are five employees, including my middle son, Cody.”

Though the family business is still going strong nearly 25 years later, still going strong nearly 25 years later, Walker said that God had gifted him with a unique ability to bring people together, and he developed a desire to serve on a broader level. It was a combination of those things that ultimately led him to the political arena.

“When I did move back to Perry, I began to get active in the community with civic groups and community service groups, including becoming president of the Perry Rotary Club and chairman of the Perry Downtown Development Authority,” said Walker. “Those roles were instrumental and played a part in the creation of Rotary Centennial Park. It was a blighted—basically an illegal—dumping ground. The year I was president of Rotary was the 100-year anniversary for Rotary International, and they encouraged clubs to do a centennial project. We identified that as our centennial project, and that is the emphasis of what is now Rotary Centennial Park.

The senator called it “a true private-public partnership” that included roles played by, not only the Rotary Club, but also others, such as the city of Perry, Houston County, and the Department of Natural Resources. “It just kind of sparked my realization and my interest in what can be accomplished if people work together,” Walker said. “I’ve felt like I had a talent for bringing people together and getting cooperation and consensus, and I started to feel like that’s the talent God gave me—to serve. I became led to offer myself for service at a higher level than locally, and when Ross Tolleson announced his resignation or retirement due to health reasons, I felt like the Lord was calling me to run for that seat.”

Walker ran in a special election with six candidates, and won it without a runoff, which, with a laugh, he admitted, “I think it shocked everybody, including myself.”

With Election Day just weeks away, Walker said he hopes the people of Georgia will see the great things he’s accomplished over the past five years and will want him to continue to represent and serve.

“I’ve developed real strong relationships at the Capitol. I’ve earned credibility with my colleagues and their trust, and it allows me to have influence over what we do. My peers in the Republican party and the Senate, have elected me as vice chairman of their caucus, which I think, speaks to the credibility I have with my colleagues and the respect that I have,” Walker stated. “I’m on some real key committees, including Appropriations (which does the budget work for the state) Health & Human Services, Veterans & Military Affairs and the Rules Committee, which determines what bills get to go on the Senate floor to be voted on. I’m on key committees and in leadership roles, and I’m in a position to be effective and helpful to the constituents in Senate District 20. This is not something that happens overnight,” Walker insisted, “and it’s not something that everybody can do, so I hope my constituents are appreciative of the service I’ve given and the effectiveness I’ve proven and would not want to start over with somebody that’s brand new and would not be able to have that impact.”

Walker shared he is proud of several things that he has had a hand in accomplishing thus far as Senator of Georgia’s 20th District. Among those he named were the following:

•Cut the state income tax and doubled the standard deduction for families and individuals, resulting in everybody—from low earners to high earners—getting a state income tax break

•Raised teacher pay

•Maintained a balanced budget in spite of the economic crisis and health care crisis brought on by COVID-19

•Maintained a AAA bond rating; the highest bond rating available

•Brought money in to the district for the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter, which just completed a $10 million equestrian center—phase three of the climate controlled arena that has been named The Sonny Purdue Arena

•Gotten money for Middle Georgia State University to renovate their old library and another hall on the Cochran Campus where they will have their nursing program

•Helped the city of Perry get designated as a rule zone, which gives state tax credits to investments in its downtown

•Expanded the practice authority for advanced nurses, which allows them to order radiological exams without a physician’s prescription, which leads to greater access to, but lower cost to health care

•Eliminated surprise medical bills on state regulated health care plans

•Made changes to professional licensing laws and regulations so that military spouses who have professional licenses can get expedited licenses in Georgia to more quickly go to work in their chosen profession

•Established the Women’s Veterans Office in the Georgia Department of Veterans Services

If re-elected, Walker said that his plan is to focus on economic development, which he believes will be particularly important as we come out of the pandemic.

“I think Governor Kemp has struck the right balance between public health and public safety, and the financial and economic health of the state,” Walker reasoned. “He hasn’t made us totally shut down, and I think that’s why our unemployment rate is 5.6%. I think we’re in the top seven states in the country since the COVID outbreak, so I’m real proud of that.”

In spite of the upside, Walker noted that there is no denying that the pandemic has had a negative impact. “It has been tough on the economy,” he pointed out, “so economic development has been and will continue to be a big focus—and economic development outside of metro Atlanta is what I’m talking about; in middle Georgia and rural Georgia,” Walker clarified. “I carried and passed the Georgia Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act two or three years ago and got it signed into law, and that established an incentive for private capitol for a revolving loan program from private entities—sort of like a capitol fund for investments in counties with less than 50,000 in population.” He went on to explain, “That program has been a success, so that when a business or new businesses want to expand, and the local bank is not able to lend them the money that they need for their expansion or new business, this program has set up a revolving loan fund to incentivize investment in rural Georgia.

“That’s an example of what I’ve done,” Walker continued, “but I think there’s a lot more that needs to be done. We need to get more industry. I’ve been a huge supporter of Robins Air Force Base, and that’s the economic driver, but we need to continue to try to diversify our industrial base, and I represent some counties that are not as fortunate as Houston, and they’re needing jobs big time. So economic development and workforce development are two things I’m really going to be focused on. And I’m going to continue to focus on rural health care. We continue to lose some of our rural hospitals, and we need to be sure that no matter what your zip code is, you have access to quality and affordable health care.”

To follow Walker’s campaign, web browsers may visit www.walkerforgeorgia.com.

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