State Rep. David Sampson will seek re-election

ALBANY – In a clarification of a prior statement in which he said he would not be a candidate in 2024, incumbent Georgia House District 153 Rep. David Sampson said that after weighing the decision further he will indeed seek a second term in office.

“I will be running,” he said during a telephone interview with The Albany Herald. “I will be seeking re-election.”

Sampson is the only Democrat in the Dougherty County delegation, and his District 153 is the only one of the four districts that is located wholly within the county.

Sampson said that he has a good relationship with his Republican colleagues in the Dougherty County delegation that also includes Republican Reps. Mike Cheokas, Gerald Greene and Bill Yearta.

“I believe that there is a lot of work to do as to how the state and the county relate to one another,” Sampson said. “I understand what we need to do in the way of networking. All of this is about relationships, nothing more, nothing less.

“That’s the political capital. You need relationships. (It’s about) how the state and the county and the city, from a collaborative standpoint, how we need to work to make Albany great again. Whatever differences we have, we need to be able to put that aside to work for the greater good of the community.”

Earlier this month, when contacted by The Herald about absences during the current legislative session, Sampson said those absences were due to a surgical procedure he had undergone. After being excused for votes taken on Jan. 22, Jan. 25, Jan. 26, Jan. 29 and an absence on Feb. 6, he has been present for the session on days that votes were taken.

During the interview in early February, the lawmaker said that he had discussed seeking a second term with his wife and had decided not to run. On Thursday he said that he had intended to state at that time that he would not make a final decision for another week or two.

So far, two Democrats have declared their intention to run in the primary election on May 21. The candidates are Joshua Anthony, an Albany State University student pursuing his studies online while living in Albany, and Albany firefighter Tracy Taylor, who ran in the 2022 District 153 race as a Republican, losing to Sampson.

The qualifying period for the primary election is March 4-8.

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