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John F. Kennedy (Georgia)

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John Kennedy
Image of John Kennedy

Candidate, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia

Georgia State Senate District 18
Tenure

2015 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

10

Compensation

Base salary

$24,341.64/year

Per diem

$247/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Next election

November 3, 2026

Contact

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:

2021-2022

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Georgia committee assignments, 2017
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:

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

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

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.


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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy (R)
 
100.0
 
80,984

Total votes: 80,984
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy
 
100.0
 
14,180

Total votes: 14,180
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy (R)
 
64.4
 
49,581
Image of Chris Benton
Chris Benton (D)
 
35.6
 
27,372

Total votes: 76,953
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of Chris Benton
Chris Benton
 
100.0
 
10,025

Total votes: 10,025
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy
 
89.1
 
24,531
Image of Diane Vann
Diane Vann
 
10.9
 
2,998

Total votes: 27,529
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy (R)
 
100.0
 
71,209

Total votes: 71,209
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy
 
100.0
 
22,976

Total votes: 22,976
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy (R)
 
100.0
 
57,935

Total votes: 57,935
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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
Image of John Kennedy
John Kennedy
 
100.0
 
13,027

Total votes: 13,027
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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 Green check mark transparent.png John F. Kennedy  (unopposed) 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 Green check mark transparent.png John F. Kennedy  (unopposed)


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]

Georgia State Senate, District 18 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJohn F. Kennedy 56.7% 9,197
Spencer T. Price 43.3% 7,017
Total Votes 16,214

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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Candidate Connection

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Twitter

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.


John Kennedy campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Georgia State Senate District 18Won general$734,559 $344,580
2022Georgia State Senate District 18Won general$404,070 $0
2020Georgia State Senate District 18Won general$253,934 N/A**
2018Georgia State Senate District 18Won general$180,657 N/A**
2016Georgia State Senate, District 18Won $150,793 N/A**
2014Georgia State Senate, District 18Won $201,598 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Georgia

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


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015



Noteworthy events

Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 19, 2020

See also: Political incumbents, candidates, and government officials diagnosed with COVID-19 or quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020

Kennedy, along with his Georgia State Senate colleagues, entered self-quarantine after State Sen. Brandon Beach tested positive for coronavirus.[18]

Covid vnt.png
Coronavirus pandemic
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See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Georgia Senate Press Office, "Senator John F. Kennedy Elected President Pro Tempore of the Georgia State Senate," January 9, 2022
  2. WRDW, “Ga. Republicans choose new Senate leaders to replace those seeking higher office" accessed June 19, 2025
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 State of Georgia Senate, "Senator John F. Kennedy," accessed March 17, 2025
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 the Den, "Under the Gold Dome: Mercerians leading in the Legislature," April 25, 2024
  5. Vote Smart, "John Kennedy's Biography," accessed March 17, 2025
  6. Georgia Info, "Legislative Terms Associated with the Georgia General Assembly," accessed March 21, 2025
  7. State of Georgia Senate, "SENATOR JOHN F. KENNEDY," accessed March 17, 2025
  8. Georgia State Senate, "Senator John F. Kennedy," accessed March 17, 2025
  9. WABE 90.1, "Georgia Senate Republicans keep John Kennedy as leader for next 2 years," November 7, 2024
  10. Vote Smart, "John Kennedy's Biography," accessed March 17, 2025
  11. Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed August 17, 2016
  12. Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election results," accessed November 23, 2016
  13. Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed March 13, 2016
  14. Georgia Secretary of State, "General primary results," accessed May 24, 2016
  15. Georgia Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed March 10, 2014
  16. Georgia Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed May 28, 2014
  17. Georgia Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 13, 2014
  18. WGAU 98.7FM & AM1340, “Senator tests positive for coronavirus, Athens lawmakers self-quarantine,” March 19, 2020

Political offices
Preceded by
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Georgia State Senate District 18
2015-Present
Succeeded by
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