21-year-old east Albany native Joshua Anthony plans run for House, focusing on revitalizing Albany, southwest Georgia

ALBANY — At 14, Joshua Anthony worked his first political campaign, door knocking and canvassing. At 16, he interned in the McDonough mayor’s office. At 19, he wrote his first state bill. Now, at 21, he’s running for Georgia’s House District 153.

The Georgia State University student was born and raised in east Albany by a family that emphasized the importance of serving and building up communities. He’s running for office with the goals of bolstering economic development in the region, fostering rural interconnectivity and empowering education in the area.

David Sampson, D-Albany, currently serves the Georgia House’s District 153, which is the only district wholly in Dougherty County. He assumed office in January 2023. District 153 encompasses parts of Albany, including the Audubon, Lakeside and Oakdale areas.

Anthony has seen Albany at its better times and at its worse times, he said. But he’s also ventured outside of Albany, working in state politics in Atlanta.

In 2022, he worked with the Legislative Black Caucus to help develop a bill that prioritized reducing gun violence while also honoring the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment. The bill was championed by Georgia Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek. During that process, Anthony said he saw how the legislative process worked first-hand and what it takes to drive legislation forward.

He’s worked with U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-GA, in assisting local farmers to digitally file for farm lending

“I have this love for my city, but I’ve been blessed enough to go outside and see what’s been going on around our state and country, and we can really build and bolster on that,” Anthony said.

The Good Life City is being lapped by neighboring cities like Valdosta, Americus and Leesburg, he said.

“We’re supposed to be the centerpiece of the South,” he said. “We can’t afford to have somebody who says they’re going to represent our district, and yet, we don’t ever see the person.”

It’s time for something new and fresh in the district, Anthony said, adding that he thinks Albany is being neglected.

He and Albany constituents are tired of words with no plan for action, he said. That’s why the House candidate is making sure he’s in the community, involved and putting his ideas into motion.

During his months of campaigning, Johnson has been taking his college classes online from his home in Albany so he can dedicate his time to community members. He kick-started a reading literacy program for kindergarten through second grade at Morningside Elementary in Albany. He reads monthly to students.

The candidate also spends his time in local barbershops hearing concerns from Albany residents. He’s working with local church leaders to garner ideas on how he can develop actionable steps toward Albany’s revitalization.

Anthony said he wants to make sure he’s having conversations with diverse groups of people to develop a plan that is filled with compromise and meets the needs of all citizens.

“I think a lot of times people running for office go out into the community, and they say this is my plan, and … I’m not going to fix it for you because my way is the highway,” Anthony said. “That’s where they’re wrong.”

The community is diverse, and we can’t apply the same logic to a 25-year-old and 75-year-old, he said.

“What we can do is find that one thing that we’re in agreement on and build from there,” Anthony said.

Anthony said he and his team are releasing a developed five-year plan on Jan. 5.

In that plan, the House District 153 candidate said he has ideas for regional projects that will benefit Albany and its neighbors.

Anthony also said he sees potential along Albany’s portion of the Flint River and in its extensive railroad system.

“We can be using it as a way of transit,” he said. “When anyone is seeking new opportunities … they can come to Albany off that transit system. They can spend money in Albany. They can live in Albany.”

Anthony said he wants to work toward creating and getting grants to help clean up the city, which is something many Albany residents have complained about to him during his community outreach.

Anthony said he wants to prioritize education and create more opportunities for local youths. He’s pushing for a review of the state’s curriculum to ensure it aligns with educational standards and incorporates real-world skills to set students up for success.

He also wants to support educators — pushing for teacher salary increases and reduced classroom sizes.

As far as economic development, Anthony said he believes more money should be staying within the city and southwest Georgia. This happens by creating more opportunities for young people.

“We have two college campuses; we have a technical school; we have multiple factories here,” he said. “We have the infrastructure to actually do something that could turn Albany into the thing it should’ve been all these years ago.”

The candidate’s campaign website emphasizes establishing programs to support entrepreneurship and small businesses as well as providing more training and internship opportunities locally that are rural-specific.

He believes doing so will help alleviate Albany’s crime issue as well, Anthony said.

“We have a high crime rate — how do you fix that? Jobs,” he said. “It’s not going to disappear; that’s not realistic, but it’s going to drop so drastically because we have opportunities, things for people to do.”

Overall, the college student said he wants to implement foundational institutional structures that will make the community self-sustainable long after he’s gone.

“We have a strong population that has been doing their best, working themselves to the bone to get the bare minimum,” Anthony said. “Our community should not have the bare minimum … shouldn’t have to struggle.”

If the community is protected and given bigger opportunities, the candidate said, everything else is going to thrive, adding the sky is the limit.

Photo Courtesy of Shavonda MilesPhoto Courtesy of Joshua Anthony[email protected]