Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Robert Dawson (Georgia)
Robert Dawson (Democratic Party) is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 65. He assumed office on January 13, 2025. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Dawson (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Georgia House of Representatives to represent District 65. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Robert Dawson was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Dawson earned a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1994, a graduate degree from Harvard University in 2010, and a graduate degree from Bennington College in 2014. His career experience includes working in financial technology, cybersecurity, and software development and compliance.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 65
Robert Dawson won election in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 65 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Robert Dawson (D)  | 100.0 | 29,876 |
| Total votes: 29,876 | |||
| = 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 65
Robert Dawson defeated De'Andre S. Pickett, Sam Wakefield, and Mel Keyton in the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 65 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Dawson | 53.9 | 4,339 |
 | De'Andre S. Pickett | 24.5 | 1,970 | |
 | Sam Wakefield | 12.9 | 1,040 | |
 | Mel Keyton | 8.6 | 694 | |
| Total votes: 8,043 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dawson in this election.
2022
See also: Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 61
Incumbent Roger Bruce won election in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 61 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Roger Bruce (D) | 100.0 | 20,091 |
| Total votes: 20,091 | |||
| = 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 61
Incumbent Roger Bruce defeated Rashaun Kemp in the Democratic primary runoff for Georgia House of Representatives District 61 on June 21, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Roger Bruce | 53.4 | 2,304 |
 | Rashaun Kemp | 46.6 | 2,009 | |
| Total votes: 4,313 | |||
| = 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 61
Incumbent Roger Bruce and Rashaun Kemp advanced to a runoff. They defeated Robert Dawson and Monique McCoy in the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 61 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Roger Bruce | 47.2 | 4,536 |
| ✔ | | Rashaun Kemp | 19.2 | 1,841 |
| Robert Dawson | 18.1 | 1,740 | |
| Monique McCoy | 15.5 | 1,494 | ||
| Total votes: 9,611 | |||
| = 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
Robert Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dawson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
In a professional capacity, I have experience working in the public and private sectors, including the United States House of Representatives as a Staff Writer. I work as a consultant and subject-matter expert in the finance and information technology fields. As a consultant, I have used my experience to consult major entities, including BCD Travel, Xerox, Time, Inc., The New York City Department of Health, and The University of Alabama.
In District 65, I continue to mentor youth, support local schools, and recently served on the City of South Fulton Zoning Board of Appeals where I was a watchdog protecting the best interests of our neighbors. I am a 2024 Post Seat holder for the Fulton County Democrats and I serve on the Executive Committee of the South Fulton Democrats.
Beyond my professional obligations, I have strived to stay active in the communities I call home.
I earned my MFA from Bennington College. I also hold degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and Harvard University.- A Public Health Framework
I have a plan for hospitals in our region:
-I will fight to fix the broken process for building new hospitals in Georgia -I will advocate to use Georgia’s surplus to bring quality healthcare back to our region after recent attrition -I will stand up to Georgia’s hospital industry and lobbyists. I’m calling the industry out right now and bringing light to the disgraced lack of healthcare in our region -I will take practical steps like allowing physician-owned, university-owned, and HBCU-owned surgery centers that feature multiple specialists
-I will work to expand medicaid in Georgia and demand that all Georgians have access to adequate healthcare - Economic Development The state must do more to bring quality development and jobs to our region. We must guard our residential neighborhoods from improper zoning, predatory rental properties and misguided development. I have heard from our neighbors, and we all want smart, safe, clean communities. District 65 must use future-forward technologies like electric vehicles, solar energy, blockchain technology and cybersecurity to upgrade the state’s grid and capabilities. Let’s become an information technology hub! Computer Science, STEM, IT and Skilled Trade training programs are also needed.
- Education As a proud product of public schools, I am an advocate for quality of education in our district. I’ve had the opportunity to attend some of the premiere colleges and universities in the country. I want all our children to have the same opportunity: -I oppose special interests groups who want to take money from public schools and send it to private schools and charter schools that don't have proper oversight and that rally even open their doors in our communities -It’s time to prioritized public education and equip our students with forward-facing skills. We can enrich our students in the classroom and beyond -We need to hire more public school teachers and pay them better.
I will continue to stand against attacks on civil rights and voting rights in Georgia and beyond:
-I am calling for the repeal of Georgia's restrictive voting laws and attempts to block fair access to the ballot
I support third-party redistricting as a way to prevent the partisan maps we are witnessing this year
-I am calling for Election Day to be a state holiday in Georgia
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.
2022
Robert Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dawson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My life has been dedicated to service and development. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, I grew up in one of the primary battleground cities of the Civil Rights Movement. Growing up surrounded by this legacy caused me to become engaged and involved in community service and development activities at a young age. I got my start in the community serving as the Chairman of Youth for Mothers Against Violence. During this time, I worked raising funds for Birmingham area youth to attend political rallies and functions in the region.
Upon receiving my high school diploma from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, I attended Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester County, New York. I graduated from Sarah Lawrence with my Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to earn two Master’s degrees. I earned a Master’s Degree in Writing from Bennington College and one in Finance from Harvard University.- The best interest of the community comes first. The neighbors deserve the head seat at the table.
- In addition to getting illegal guns off the street, we must focus on strengthening the relationship between the community and police.
- Let’s be honest, no one wants to make a big money bet in a district where the politics are full of drama. If we continue to have political bickering, most businesses that we are longing for will see us as too big of a risk.
To get all this done we need leaders who are collaborators and facilitators. We don’t need any more drama. Our future is not served by divisive politics, dysfunction, and stubborn public policy. I’m deeply concerned that without proper planning, spending and policies we will continue to hit roadblocks and dead ends as a rising region
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Georgia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Georgia House of Representatives District 65 |
Officeholder Georgia House of Representatives District 65 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 22, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mandisha A. Thomas (D) |
Georgia House of Representatives District 65 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
.svg.png){kind=small}
