James_March-April_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 30
30
RENA ANN PECK
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGIA RIVERS
For more than 25 years Georgia
Rivers has served as the premier
advocate for the state’s 70,150 miles
of rivers and streams and all the
legal, environmental and economic concerns
they face. Whether it’s fighting to protect the
Okefenokee Swamp or wading into the debate
over “navigable” waterways, Peck leads the
charge as the head of one of Georgia’s leading
environmental nonprofits.
DAVID PERDUE
AMBASSADOR TO CHINA
After a storied business career
that included stints as CEO of
Reebok and Dollar General, Perdue
was elected to the U.S. Senate in
2014 for a term and last year became ambassador to China in the second Trump Administration. The Macon native’s business and
political backgrounds are put to good use as
he navigates America’s most important—
and often most contentious— international
relationship.
SONNY PERDUE
most populous county since 2017, navigating
Covid,elections drama, a jail headache and
major population growth.
Care Association, and serves on the University
System of Georgia’s Board of Regents.
RALPH REED
MIKE PLANT
CHAIRMAN, FAITH & FREEDOM COALITION
PRESIDENT & CEO, BRAVES DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
The former Georgia GOP chairman
has been a major player in national
politics since the 1990s when he
rose to fame as the first executive
director of the Christian Coalition. He remains a key figure in the Republican Party’s
ability to target, mobilize and turn out the
conservative religious vote, which has been a
cornerstone of the party’s successes both
here in Georgia and nationwide.
Truist Park and the surrounding
Battery Atlanta have become the
definitive model of success for
modern sports franchises, and
Plant’s leadership in managing that public/
private partnership has been imitated in new
developments across the country. A former
Turner Sports executive, Plant also works
with the Braves’ minor league organizations
as well, most notably the organization’s new
North Point, Florida spring training facility.
NEIL PRUITT
CHAIRMAN & CEO, PRUITTHEALTH
PruittHealth has grown to become
one of the largest senior care providers in the Southeast, with more
than 180 locations serving 24,000
patients. Pruitt’s leadership is nationally renowned— he has served as chair of the Board
of Governors of the American Health Care
Association and chair of the Georgia Health
DR. DWIGHT “IKE” REIGHARD
PRESIDENT AND CEO, MUST MINISTRIES
A Cobb County institution, MUST
has undergone tremendous growth
during Reighard’s 13 years at the
helm of the nonprofit. It serves
more than 65,000 people a year who are struggling with poverty, and its homeless shelter—
the MUST Hope House— is an example of
how to provide both short- and long-term
housing to those in need. He is also senior
pastor at Piedmont Church in Marietta.
CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA
A former state legislator, two-term
Georgia governor and U.S. Secretary
of Agriculture during the first
Trump Administration, Perdue now
oversees the state’s 26 public colleges and universities, with a $10 billion annual budget and
more than 340,000 students. He recently became the third-ever Georgia inducted into the
National Agricultural Hall of Fame for his significant contributions to American agriculture
over that esteemed career.
Banking and Financial Institutions
Public Safety
TYLER PERRY
Carden Summers Cordele
John Albers Roswell
Children and Families
Reapportionment and Redistricting
PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, PHILANTHROPIST
This playwright-turned-actorturned media mogul is one of the
great Georgia success stories of
modern times. His Tyler Perry Studios at the site of the former Fort McPherson
in Atlanta is one of the largest in the country,
and established Perry as the first black man
to outright own his own film studio. Outside
the film industry Perry rubs shoulders with
some of the biggest names in politics as a
Democratic mega-donor.
ROBB PITTS
CHAIRMAN, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
A longtime Atlanta city councilman, Pitts rose to fame as one of
the key figures behind bringing the
1996 Summer Olympics to the
South alongside Billy Payne. The often controversial and outspoken politican has served
as County Commission chair of the state’s
Administrative Affairs
Judiciary
Larry Walker, III Perry
Brian Strickland McDonough
Agriculture and Consumer Affairs
MARTOC
Russ Goodman Cogdell
Frank Ginn Danielsville
Appropriations
Natural Resources and the Environment
Blake Tillery Vidalia
Lee Anderson Grovetown
Kay Kirkpatrick Marietta
Mike Hodges Brunswick
Economic Development and Tourism
Regulated Industries and Utilites
Drew Echols Gainesville
Bill Cowsert Athens
Education and Youth
Retirement
Billy Hickman Statesboro
Rick Williams Milledgeville
Ethics
Rules
Sam Watson Moultrie
Matt Brass Newnan
Finance
Science and Technology
Chuck Hufstetler Rome
Ed Setzler Acworth
Government Oversight
State and Local Governmental Operations
Timothy Bearden Carrollton
Clint Dixon Buford
Health and Human Services
State Institutions and Property
Ben Watson Savannah
Ed Harbison Columbus
Higher Education
Transportation
Max Burns Sylvania
Greg Dolezal Cumming
Insurance and Labor
Urban Affairs
Marth Harbin Tyrone
Donzella James Atlanta
Interstate Cooperation
Veterans, Military and Homeland Security
Donzella James Atlanta
Chuck Payne Dalton
Paid for by Mike Thurmond for Governor
