Sally Harrell

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Sally Harrell
Image of Sally Harrell
Georgia State Senate District 40
Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

5

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$24,341.64/year

Per diem

$247/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Georgia State University, 1993

Graduate

University of Georgia

Personal
Birthplace
Indianapolis, Ind.
Profession
Social worker
Contact

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Sally Harrell (Democratic Party) is a member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 40. She assumed office on January 14, 2019. Her current term ends on January 13, 2025.

Harrell (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Georgia State Senate to represent District 40. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Harrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sally Harrell was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and earned both her bachelor's degree and master's of social work from the University of Georgia. Harrell's career experience includes working as executive director of the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia and the legislative advisor for the Well Being of Children Issues.[1] She was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives before being elected to the state senate in 2018. Harrell has served as a member of the Senate Ethics, Higher Education, and Natural Resources and the Environment Committees.[2]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Harrell was assigned to the following committees:

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2021-2022

Harrell was assigned to the following committees:

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2019-2020

Harrell was assigned to the following committees:

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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 State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell defeated Amelia K. Siamomua in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 40 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell (D) Candidate Connection
 
64.4
 
36,547
Image of Amelia K. Siamomua
Amelia K. Siamomua (R) Candidate Connection
 
35.6
 
20,175

Total votes: 56,722
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell defeated David Lubin in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 21, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell Candidate Connection
 
70.8
 
8,105
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
David Lubin
 
29.2
 
3,337

Total votes: 11,442
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40

Amelia K. Siamomua advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 21, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Amelia K. Siamomua
Amelia K. Siamomua Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,656

Total votes: 3,656
Candidate Connection = 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

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To view Harrell's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Harrell in this election.

2022

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell defeated Austin McDonald in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 40 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell (D)
 
61.6
 
39,839
Image of Austin McDonald
Austin McDonald (R) Candidate Connection
 
38.4
 
24,870

Total votes: 64,709
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 24, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell
 
100.0
 
11,292

Total votes: 11,292
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40

Austin McDonald advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 24, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Austin McDonald
Austin McDonald Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
11,114

Total votes: 11,114
Candidate Connection = 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.

2020

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell defeated Garry Guan in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 40 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell (D)
 
60.5
 
54,359
Image of Garry Guan
Garry Guan (R) Candidate Connection
 
39.5
 
35,494

Total votes: 89,853
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 40

Incumbent Sally Harrell advanced from the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell
 
100.0
 
23,354

Total votes: 23,354
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40

Garry Guan advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on June 9, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Garry Guan
Garry Guan Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
11,071

Total votes: 11,071
Candidate Connection = 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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2018

See also: Georgia State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Georgia State Senate District 40

Sally Harrell defeated incumbent Fran Millar in the general election for Georgia State Senate District 40 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell (D)
 
54.8
 
40,956
Image of Fran Millar
Fran Millar (R)
 
45.2
 
33,842

Total votes: 74,798
Candidate Connection = 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 State Senate District 40

Sally Harrell defeated Tamara Johnson-Shealey in the Democratic primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sally Harrell
Sally Harrell
 
67.2
 
7,519
Image of Tamara Johnson-Shealey
Tamara Johnson-Shealey
 
32.8
 
3,673

Total votes: 11,192
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40

Incumbent Fran Millar advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia State Senate District 40 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Fran Millar
Fran Millar
 
100.0
 
7,884

Total votes: 7,884
Candidate Connection = 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.

2017

See also: Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, 2017

Harrell sought election to the 6th Congressional District of Georgia in the 2017 special election.[3]

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Sally Harrell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Harrell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Born in the midwest and raised with old-fashioned midwestern values, I have made Atlanta my home for all of my adult life. I married an Atlanta native and raised two children here, one of whom is at GSU in computer science, the other went west to the University of Oregon to pursue a Ph.D. in earth science. I earned my Master of Social Work at UGA and focused on non-profit administration and maternal & child health. I served three terms in the Georgia House in the early 2000s, left politics to raise my children, then returned to the Georgia Senate where I am completing my third term. In the Senate I have focused on making higher education more affordable and ensuring that Georgia meets its obligation to help families who have children with severe developmental disabilities. I look forward to serving another term!

  • Quality public schools are the backbone of our state. We must guarantee early childhood education for every child. We must create K-12 educational environments that are safe and adaptable to individual student learning needs. We must guarantee that qualified students are able to attend college and technical schools without the burden of large debts. The future of our state depends on this.
  • Georgia needs to join the 40 other states that have already chosen to expand Medicaid. Our rural hospitals need this revenue in order to keep their doors open. Georgia has abysmally low maternal mortality rates, especially for new Black moms. You shouldn't have to go broke to get healthcare.
  • Georgia is growing, which is a good thing! But our transpotation infrastructure is choking us in the Atlanta area. We need to invest in public transit and clean energy, connecting Atlanta with communities across rural Georgia. An affordable supply of housing must be built to accomadate our growth.

I am passionate about improving state-wide services for families living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Someone once wrote about my father, "Richard restores civility to every conversation." I strive to be like my dad, serving with dignity, kindness and compassion.

Once elected, there are many distractions and pressures that can steer you off course. The most important thing is to be clear about what your values are, and stick to them!

I babysat all the time for baby boomer parents! I made $1/hr.

The Governor serves the executive branch, which should lobby the legislative branch for whatever makes for better, more efficient state government.

During the next ten years, Georgia must deal with housing supply and transportation infrastructure, which in turn impacts clean air and water, which in turn impacts climate change and our atmosphere.

I do not believe new legislators need political or legislative experience to be good representatives. For a well balanced legislature, we need a membership that reflects Georgia’s population.

Getting anything done in the political environment means building good relationships, both within your own party and across the aisle.

There are many legislators I admire -- most of whom are not “famous.” The qualities they possess are energy & passion, perseverance (they never give up) and empathy. They recognize injustice when they see it, and when they see it, they take action.

As a new legislator, I got several phone calls from elderly parents of adult children with developmental disabilities. They had been on a waiting list for services for at least a decade while nothing happened. They were afraid they would die not knowing their child would be cared for when they couldn’t do it anymore. I got to work reforming the system of care.

Georgia has a part-time “citizen” legislature, so it is therefore appropriate for emergency powers to reside in the Governor’s office.

Next session, the first bill I will file will be to create an independent system of building inspections for our K-12 school buildings, including trailers.

I would love to serve on Health & Human Services, Natural Resources and the Environment, and Education.

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

Sally Harrell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Sally Harrell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Sally Harrell participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 18, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Sally Harrell's responses follow below.[4]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

1) Education: Our K-12 public education system needs to be fully funded, restoring cuts made since 2008 and before, and reversing the trend toward sending public dollars to private schools. Pre-school, college and technical schools need to be made affordable. And perhaps most urgently, we need to slow the destruction of our environment by investing in innovative, clean energy solutions, especially in the area of regional traffic planning.

2) Healthcare: Medicaid needs to be expanded to save our failing healthcare system state-wide.
3) Environment: Perhaps most urgently, we need to slow the destruction of our environment by investing in innovative, clean energy solutions, especially in the area of regional traffic planning.[5][6]

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

My area of expertise is healthcare, including mental health. I have spent my career advocating for increased access to affordable healthcare. As a social worker, I am gravely concerned for the mental health of our young people, and would like to see affordable systems of mental healthcare available to all who need them.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[6]

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Sally Harrell answered the following:

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

My Core Values: 1) A Positive Role for Government: A strong government ensures that an economy based on maximizing profits does not trample basic human needs. 2) Social Justice: A civilized an humane society ensure that its weaker and poorer members and treated fairly and equitably. 3) Inclusiveness: We extend our world beyond our own families, communities, ethic groups, and races to include a wide range of outsiders, marginalized peoples, and even the earth itself.[6]


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.


Sally Harrell campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Georgia State Senate District 40Won general$107,603 $80,762
2022Georgia State Senate District 40Won general$111,213 $0
2020Georgia State Senate District 40Won general$240,978 N/A**
Grand total$459,795 $80,762
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** 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 [email protected].


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019






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

Harrell, along with her Georgia State Senate colleagues, entered self-quarantine after State Sen. Brandon Beach tested positive for coronavirus.[7]

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See also


External links

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Footnotes

  1. Vote Smart, "Sally Harrell's Biography," accessed October 11, 2019
  2. State of Georgia Senate, "Sally Harrell," accessed October 11, 2019
  3. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cong17
  4. Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
  5. Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Sally Harrell's responses," April 18, 2018
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  7. WGAU 98.7FM & AM1340, “Senator tests positive for coronavirus, Athens lawmakers self-quarantine,” March 19, 2020

Political offices
Preceded by
Fran Millar (R)
Georgia State Senate District 40
2019-Present
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the Georgia State Senate
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