Former prosecutor and Floyd County GOP chair Luke Martin has announced his candidacy for the Georgia State Senate District 52 seat, which covers all of Floyd and parts of Chattooga, Gordon and Bartow counties.
The seat is now held by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, who intends to seek re-election.
In a news release announcing his run, Martin vowed to take a conservative stand against “weak, do-nothing RINOs” and “the Nancy Pelosi and AOC crowd.” He also promised to defend former President Donald Trump’s legacy and fight for election integrity in Georgia.
“You can count on me to stand boldly for the principles America was founded on and to represent WE THE PEOPLE … not the Atlanta swamp,” Martin’s campaign said in an emailed statement. “My campaign will highlight these core issues: Fighting for authentic election integrity in Georgia, We must BAN Critical Race Theory in our schools, STOP the Radical Left’s attempt to force vaccine passports, Defend President Donald Trump’s legacy and support the America-First agenda, and 100% pro-life and 100% pro-gun.”
Martin has worked with the Floyd County District Attorney’s Office, as well as D.A.’s offices in Dalton and Cartersville. He also served in the U.S. Army reserves Judge Advocate General Corps.
Hufstetler was first elected in 2012 and serves as the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He is also a member of the Higher Education, Health and Human Services committee, the Appropriations Committee and the Education and Youth Committee. Before working in the state Senate, Hufstetler served on the Floyd County Board of Commissioners and worked 14 years as a corporate manager for Welch Foods and Earthgrain.
The outcome of redistricting set to take place later this year could have major consequences for the Senate District 52 race and other elections across the state.
The U.S. Census Bureau is set to release detailed data that will be used to determine if and how district lines should be redrawn by Sept. 30. Each district must have roughly the same number of voters. Already published data from the 2020 Census revealed that, since 2010, Georgia’s population grew from 9.7 million to 10.7 million residents.
A special session of the Georgia General Assembly will be held later this fall to make adjustments to existing borders for state House, state Senate and U.S. House districts.
Contact Kelcey Caulder at kcaulder@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @kelceycaulder.