Tuesday, September 16, 2025–9:45 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Georgia State Senator John F. Kennedy, who is running to become the state’s next Lt. Governor, was in Rome on Tuesday, meeting with supporters and the local media.
Kennedy lives in Macon and has been in the Georgia State Senate since 2014. Kennedy has been President Pro Tem, the second-ranking leader in the chamber, since 2023.
During an interview with WRGA (posted above in its entirety), Kennedy said Georgia will continue to need a pro-business environment in the years to come.
“We are in good shape now, but as we’re seeing, not only on a national trend, and also to some extent, some harbingers of some economic tightening we’re going to see here in Georgia,” he said. “We are going to have to make sure that we have good leadership that understands that a good, pro-business environment is what allows people to have good-paying jobs, so they can take care of their families.
Another issue Kennedy believes will have to continue to be addressed is chronic absenteeism in the schools.
“21 percent of our school kids in public schools are chronically absent,” he said. “If they are not going to school, and they are not getting the necessary literacy levels, so that they can progress to the point of graduating, then they are not going to get and have a chance at the American dream, and the Georgia dream that we want for our kids.”
Kennedy sponsored Senate Bill 123, which seeks to address the issue, and he has put together a study committee to look at more possible solutions.
Kennedy was also the lead sponsor of legislation aimed at overhauling Georgia’s civil litigation system.
He is part of what is becoming a crowded field of candidates seeking the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor.
Other declared candidates include Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, State Senator Blake Tillery, State Representative David Clark, State Representative David Clark, former Secretary of State candidate and former U.S. Marine Breanda Nelson-Porter, and Jerry Timbs of Griffin, who ran for Henry County Commission in 2016.
Current Lt. Governor Burt Jones is running for Governor.