LaDena Bolton

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LaDena Bolton

Democratic Party

DeKalb County Commission District 7

Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

0

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

December 3, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Savannah State University, 2006

Graduate

Clark Atlanta University, 2014

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Chemist

Contact

Campaign website

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LaDena Bolton (Democratic Party) is a member of the DeKalb County Commission in Georgia, representing District 7. She assumed office on January 1, 2025. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Bolton (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the DeKalb County Commission to represent District 7 in Georgia. She won in the special general runoff election on December 3, 2024.

Biography

LaDena Bolton was born in the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. She earned her undergraduate degree from Savannah State University in May 2006 and her graduate degree from Clark Atlanta University in May 2014. Her professional experience includes working as a chemist.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in DeKalb County, Georgia (2024)

General runoff election

Special general runoff election for DeKalb County Commission District 7

LaDena Bolton defeated Jacqueline Adams in the special general runoff election for DeKalb County Commission District 7 on December 3, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		LaDena Bolton (D)	70.3	9,631
		Jacqueline Adams (D)	29.7	4,065

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,696
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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General election

Special general election for DeKalb County Commission District 7

Jacqueline Adams and LaDena Bolton advanced to a runoff. They defeated Demetrius McCoy and Kenneth Chung Royal in the special general election for DeKalb County Commission District 7 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jacqueline Adams (D)	46.0	72,957
✔		LaDena Bolton (D)	26.2	41,609
		Demetrius McCoy (D)	19.4	30,752
		Kenneth Chung Royal (D)	8.4	13,365

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 158,683
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bolton in this election.

2020

See also: Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 86

Zulma Lopez won election in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 86 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zulma Lopez (D)	100.0	23,209

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,209
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Georgia House of Representatives District 86

Zulma Lopez defeated incumbent Michele Henson in the Democratic primary runoff for Georgia House of Representatives District 86 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Zulma Lopez	54.9	3,082
		Michele Henson	45.1	2,534

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,616
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 86

Incumbent Michele Henson and Zulma Lopez advanced to a runoff. They defeated LaDena Bolton and Joscelyn O'Neil in the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 86 on June 9, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michele Henson	41.2	4,642
✔		Zulma Lopez	29.8	3,355
		LaDena Bolton	18.7	2,105
		Joscelyn O'Neil	10.4	1,171

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,273
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

LaDena Bolton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

LaDena Bolton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bolton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Dr. LaDena Bolton was raised in DeKalb County, where her family has served in the community for over 25 years. LaDena is a proud wife, mother of 3 sons, award-winning chemist and community advocate. During her matriculation through Savannah State University and Clark Atlanta University, she observed the need to prepare our scholars for both college and career readiness. As unemployed college graduates, Dr. Bolton and her husband, Dr. Bolton II, saw the value in community involvement as a means to identify career opportunities for struggling families. Therefore, in 2014, they launched the Bolton Legacy Scholarship to support college students interested in restoring and sustaining underserved areas. Candidate Bolton seeks to broaden her commitment to serving her community by running for State Representative. She plans to implement initiatives that protect our families by supporting education, justice and community reform.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Dr. LaDena Bolton is the best candidate to articulate the concerns of our community because she is the only candidate that was raised in DeKalb County and is currently raising her family here.
• What makes Dr. Bolton an extraordinary candidate is that she has committed her adult career to serving our country as a chemist. In this role, she has addressed our countries most significant issues including energy sustainability, health disparities and national security.
• LaDena Bolton is no stranger to advocating for our community. She has served on the boards of several non profit organizations that seek to improve the lives of our neighbors. In addition, Mrs. Bolton volunteers with social, political and civic organizations such as DeKalb NAACP, DeKalb Democrats and Sigma Gamma Rho sorority.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

LaDena Bolton believes that all Georgians deserve access not only to superior education, but also a toolkit of skills to acquire a sustainable career. She will fight to expand programs that fund college and career readiness for our students.

Over policed, Under served and Under paid is the formula for a broken safety system. Bolton is committed to increasing Georgia's investment in public safety, so we can obtain and retain good public service officials.

In 2019, there was a 13% increase in homelessness across Georgia. LaDena will partner with our local leaders to secure quality affordable housing initiatives that protect our families.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

There are many leaders that Dr. LaDena Bolton admires for different reasons as it pertains to various areas of her life. Most recently, LaDena has begun to study the character and quality of service exuded by the current Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Bolton admires Mayor Lance Bottoms' ability to persevere through personal struggles and her commitment to serving the people in her community with humility and compromise. Most of all, LaDena appreciates that the Mayor is an active advocate for the people. There is no room for complacency in her will to do service. Not to mention, she is able to do this while caring for her school aged children. She is a great role model for young women and leaders everywhere.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Leaders are elected by their communities to identify their issues, articulate their concerns and clear paths to resolution. Elected office was designed by the people, for the people.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

On September 11, 2001 LaDena was the average seventeen year old senior in high school. She woke that morning and headed to school like she did any other day. Shortly after arriving, LaDena knew that her life and the lives of students all over the country would never be the same. They sat barricaded on the senior hall as they watched one... then two... airplanes crash into the World Trade center on the classroom television.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

LaDena Bolton started her first job in the summer of 2001 during the summer before her senior year at Avondale High School. She worked as a cashier at Wendy's in North Dekalb mall. LaDena remained a faithful employee through her sophomore year at Savannah State University, working every summer and holiday vacation.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Betty Boop

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

It may be beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics, but it is not mandatory by any means. There are pros and cons to having prior experience. For example, having experience may narrow the candidates perspective on change and progress because he or she is accustomed to doing things a particular way. However, having experience reduces the learning curve and may potentially permit the candidate to settle into the role more quickly. This is highly dependent on the extent (not the length of time) of the prior experience.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

In recent years, balancing the budget has been particularly challenging and the devastation caused by the corona virus pandemic will certainly add to those challenges. In line with the former, identifying a healthcare plan that will service more Georgians will remain a priority, especially for those in rural communities.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Building relationships with other legislators should be a priority. In any work environment, productivity and efficiency is higher when working relationships are actively pursued and maintained. Relationships permit compromise, builds on individual strengths and makes for a more pleasant working environment.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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