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John F. Kennedy (Georgia)
2015 - Present
2027
10
John Kennedy (Republican Party) is a member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 18. He assumed office on January 12, 2015. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.
The Georgia State Senate unanimously elected Kennedy president pro tempore on January 9, 2022. As president pro tempore, Kennedy managed the chamber's administrative duties and served as the presiding officer when the president of the senate—the lieutenant governor of Georgia—was absent.[1] Kennedy served in this capacity until June 18, 2025.[2]
Kennedy was born in 1965 in Adrian, Georgia. He received a bachelor's degree in economics and a J.D. from Mercer University in 1987 and 1990, respectively. Kennedy's work experience included serving as a partner at James-Bates-Brannan-Groover, LLP, specializing in civil litigation, trial work, business advice, and fiduciary law. As of March 2025, he also served on the executive board of directors for the Central Georgia Council and Boy Scouts of America.[3][4][5]
Kennedy was first elected to the state Senate in 2014, winning the Republican primary with 57% of the vote, and running unopposed in the general election. He was Gov. Nathan Deal's (R) floor leader during his first term as a senator and the Republican Caucus chairman from 2017 to 2022. According to the Georgia Legislature, a floor leader is "[a] legislator designated by the governor in each house to manage bills initiated or favored by the governor."[6]
As of March 17, 2025, Kennedy was either the secretary or chairman of the following committees: Senate Committee on Administrative Affairs, Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions, Senate Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities, and Senate Committee on the Judiciary.[3][7][8]
Following his re-nomination as president pro tempore in November 2024, Kennedy called for "continued tax relief, saying it gives people a break from higher costs at a time when Georgia’s government has $11 billion in the bank" and " ... solutions to students who are frequently absent from school, a problem that has lingered since the COVID-19 pandemic," according to WABE 90.1.[9] In an August 2024 interview with Mercer University's the Den, Kennedy said, "he’s most proud of the work he did getting Marsy’s Law passed."[4] Marsy's Law describes a set of constitutional protections for crime victims that have been proposed and adopted in some states.
Biography
Kennedy was born in 1965 in Adrian, Georgia. He received a bachelor's degree in economics and a J.D. from Mercer University in 1987 and 1990, respectively. Kennedy's work experience included serving as a partner at James-Bates-Brannan-Groover, LLP, specializing in civil litigation, trial work, business advice, and fiduciary law. As of March 2025, he also served on the executive board of directors for the Central Georgia Council and Boy Scouts of America.[3][4][10]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Ways and Means Committee
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate Ethics Committee, Ex-Officio
- House Health Committee, Ex-Officio
- Insurance Committee, Ex-Officio
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary
- Senate Rules Committee, Ex-Officio
- Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Committee, Ex-Officio
2021-2022
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice chair
- Senate Judiciary Committee, Secretary
- Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, Chair
- Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary
2019-2020
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Vice Chairman
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee
- Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, Secretary
- Senate Rules Committee, Ex-Officio
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
Georgia committee assignments, 2017 |
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• Appropriations |
• Assignments |
• Banking and Financial Institutions, Vice chair |
• Judiciary |
• Regulated Industries and Utilities |
• Rules |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Kennedy served on the following committees:
Georgia committee assignments, 2015 |
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• Banking and Financial Institutions |
• Judiciary |
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
2026
See also: Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
The following candidates are running in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
![]() | Josh McLaurin (D) | |
![]() | Richard N. Wright (D) ![]() | |
![]() | David Clark (R) | |
![]() | Steve Gooch (R) | |
![]() | John Kennedy (R) | |
![]() | Brenda Nelson-Porter (R) ![]() | |
![]() | Blake Tillery (R) | |
![]() | Jerry Timbs (R) ![]() |
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Endorsements
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2024
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy (R) | 100.0 | 80,984 |
Total votes: 80,984 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy | 100.0 | 14,180 |
Total votes: 14,180 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kennedy in this election.
2022
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy defeated Chris Benton in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy (R) | 64.4 | 49,581 |
![]() | Chris Benton (D) | 35.6 | 27,372 |
Total votes: 76,953 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 18
Chris Benton advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Chris Benton | 100.0 | 10,025 |
Total votes: 10,025 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy defeated Diane Vann in the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy | 89.1 | 24,531 |
![]() | Diane Vann | 10.9 | 2,998 |
Total votes: 27,529 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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2020
See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy (R) | 100.0 | 71,209 |
Total votes: 71,209 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy | 100.0 | 22,976 |
Total votes: 22,976 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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2018
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy won election in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 18 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy (R) | 100.0 | 57,935 |
Total votes: 57,935 (100.00% precincts reporting) | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18
Incumbent John Kennedy advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 18 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | John Kennedy | 100.0 | 13,027 |
Total votes: 13,027 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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2016
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 24, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 11, 2016.
John F. Kennedy ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 18 general election.[11][12]
Georgia State Senate, District 18 General Election, 2016 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
100.00% | 60,751 | |
Total Votes | 60,751 | |||
Source: Georgia Secretary of State |
John F. Kennedy ran unopposed in the Georgia State Senate District 18 Republican primary.[13][14]
Georgia State Senate, District 18 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | |
Republican | ![]() |
2014
- See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Georgia State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014, with a runoff election taking place where necessary on July 22, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. John F. Kennedy defeated Spencer T. Price in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[15][16][17]
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
---|---|---|
![]() |
56.7% | 9,197 |
Spencer T. Price | 43.3% | 7,017 |
Total Votes | 16,214 |
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2024
John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
John Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
2024
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 28.
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2023
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 29.
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2022
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 4.
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2021
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 31.
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2020
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 13 to June 26. The session was suspended from March 13 through June 11.
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2019
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 14 through April 2.
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2018
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 8 through March 29.
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2017
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 9 through March 31.
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2016
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Georgia General Assembly was in session from January 11 through March 24.
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2015
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Georgia State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
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Noteworthy events
Kennedy, along with his Georgia State Senate colleagues, entered self-quarantine after State Sen. Brandon Beach tested positive for coronavirus.[18]
![]() |
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Coronavirus pandemic |
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COVID-19, also known as coronavirus disease 2019, is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The first confirmed case of the disease in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020. For more of Ballotpedia's coverage of the coronavirus impact on political and civic life, click here.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Candidate Lieutenant Governor of Georgia |
Officeholder Georgia State Senate District 18 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Georgia Senate Press Office, "Senator John F. Kennedy Elected President Pro Tempore of the Georgia State Senate," January 9, 2022
- ↑ WRDW, “Ga. Republicans choose new Senate leaders to replace those seeking higher office" accessed June 19, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 State of Georgia Senate, "Senator John F. Kennedy," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 the Den, "Under the Gold Dome: Mercerians leading in the Legislature," April 25, 2024
- ↑ Vote Smart, "John Kennedy's Biography," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ Georgia Info, "Legislative Terms Associated with the Georgia General Assembly," accessed March 21, 2025
- ↑ State of Georgia Senate, "SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ Georgia State Senate, "Senator John F. Kennedy," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ WABE 90.1, "Georgia Senate Republicans keep John Kennedy as leader for next 2 years," November 7, 2024
- ↑ Vote Smart, "John Kennedy's Biography," accessed March 17, 2025
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ WGAU 98.7FM & AM1340, “Senator tests positive for coronavirus, Athens lawmakers self-quarantine,” March 19, 2020
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by - |
Georgia State Senate District 18 2015-Present |
Succeeded by - |