Carolyn Bourdeaux

Carolyn Jordan Bourdeaux (born June 3, 1970)[1][2][3] is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative from Georgia's 7th congressional district since 2021.[4] A member of the Democratic Party, she was a professor at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy at Georgia State University from 2003 to 2021.

Not to be confused with Caroline Boudreaux.

Carolyn Bourdeaux
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 7th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2021
Preceded byRob Woodall
Personal details
Born (1970-06-03) June 3, 1970
Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Jeffrey Skodnick
Children1
EducationYale University (BA)
University of Southern California (MPA)
Syracuse University (DPA)
WebsiteHouse website

In 2018, Bourdeaux ran for Georgia's 7th congressional district, coming within 433 votes of defeating the incumbent Republican, Representative Rob Woodall, in what was the closest congressional race in that cycle.[5][6] On February 7, 2019, Woodall announced he would retire at the end of his current term.[7] That same day, Bourdeaux announced her intentions to once again seek the seat.[8] She won her 2020 election against Republican Rich McCormick.

Early life and education

Bourdeaux is from Roanoke, Virginia. Her parents were both teachers, but the family declared bankruptcy when she was in school. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in history and economics, aided by Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. She earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Public Administration from Syracuse University.[9]

Early career

Bourdeaux worked as a political aide to Ron Wyden for four years, when he served in the United States House of Representatives and then in the United States Senate. In 2003, she became an associate professor at Georgia State University. From 2007 to 2010, she served as Director of Georgia's Senate Budget and Evaluation Office. Following her time there, she returned to the Andrew Young School and founded the Center for State and Local Finance.[9]

U.S. House of Representatives

2018
Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia § District 7

In the 2018 elections, Bourdeaux ran for the United States House of Representatives in Georgia's 7th congressional district.[10] She faced a six-way primary for the Democratic Party nomination. She came in first place in the May primary and earned a spot in the July runoff.[11] She then won the primary runoff on July 24 and won the Democratic Nomination.[12] She then faced Republican Rob Woodall in the November 6 general election.

On September 14, 2018, Bourdeaux was added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red-to-Blue program.[13] She was endorsed by EMILY's List,[14] End Citizens United,[15] the League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the Georgia State AFL-CIO, and Progressive Turnout Project. She was also endorsed by Barack Obama.[16]

The race was considered to be a sleeper race, but it received more attention later in the election as Bourdeaux continued to outraise Woodall and as Democrats picked up momentum nationwide.[17] In the third quarter of 2018, Bourdeaux outraised Woodall by a margin of more than 3-1, raising over $1 million.[18] The election continued to be close all the way through election day. On election night, the race was too close to call, and the winner of this race was still unclear.[19] Just a few hours after it was filed on November 15, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May denied an emergency motion to force Gwinnett County to count previously rejected absentee ballots in the razor-thin 7th congressional district race.[20] On November 21, following a recount, Bourdeaux conceded defeat.[21]

2020
Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia § District 7

On February 7, 2019, Bourdeaux announced that she would run again for the same seat in 2020.[22][23] She was quickly endorsed by several key Georgia politicians, including Congressman John Lewis.[24] Within the first week of her campaign, she announced raising over $100,000.[25] In the first quarter of 2019, she outraised all other congressional challengers in the country, with a total of over $350,000.[26] Woodall did not seek reelection in 2020. Bourdeaux defeated Rich McCormick in the general election.[27] Aside from Deborah Ross and Kathy Manning in North Carolina, who won seats that were redrawn to become safely Democratic, Bourdeaux was the only Democratic House candidate in the country to flip a seat previously held by a Republican in the 2020 election.[28] She got a significant boost from Joe Biden's strong showing in the Atlanta suburbs; Biden carried Gwinnett County by over 18 points.

Tenure

Bourdeaux was sworn in on January 3, 2021, becoming the first Democrat to represent Georgia's 7th congressional district since its creation in 1993 as the 4th district; it became the 11th in 1997 and has been the 7th since 2003.

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Bourdeaux is married to Jeffrey Skodnik, a sales manager at LexisNexis.[30] They live in Suwanee, Georgia, and have one son.[9]

References
  1. Hallerman, Tamar; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "The 7th Congressional District race: What you need to know". ajc.
  2. "Carolyn Bourdeaux". Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  3. Kassel, Matthew. "Carolyn Bourdeaux's hard-fought congressional battle pays off".
  4. @AP_Politics (November 6, 2020). "BREAKING: Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux wins election to U.S. House in Georgia's 7th Congressional District" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. Pathé, Simone; Pathé, Simone (November 21, 2018). "Rob Woodall Wins by 433 Votes in Georgia's 7th District". Roll Call. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  6. "50 Interesting Facts About the 2018 Election". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  7. Hallerman, Tamar (February 7, 2019). "U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will not seek re-election". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  8. Hallerman, Tamar (February 7, 2019). "Carolyn Bourdeaux to seek 7th District seat after razor-thin loss". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  9. "Bourdeaux says commitment to public service drives run for Congress". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  10. Hallerman, Tamar (July 5, 2017). "GSU professor jumps into expanding 7th District race with health care message". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  11. "Georgia Primary Election Results: Seventh House District". The New York Times. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  12. "Bourdeaux wins Georgia Dem runoff, in latest win by female candidates". TheHill. July 24, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  13. "DCCC Announces Latest Round of Exciting Red to Blue Candidates". Dccc.org. September 14, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  14. "EMILY's List Endorses Carolyn Bourdeaux in Georgia's 7th District". emilyslist.org.
  15. "End Citizens United Endorses Carolyn Bourdeaux in GA-07". End Citizens United | We the People, Not "We the Wealthy". May 18, 2018.
  16. "Obama makes endorsements in Atlanta-area congressional races". Associated Press. October 1, 2018.
  17. Peterson, Kristina (October 16, 2018). "House Races Tighten as Midterm Elections Near". The Wall Street Journal.
  18. Hallerman, Tamar (October 16, 2018). "Dem challengers show off massive fundraising tallies in Ga's top House races". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  19. "Outcome still unclear in Gwinnett congressional race". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  20. Tamar Hallerman Tyler Estep (November 15, 2018). "Georgia 7th: Judge denies Bourdeaux push for additional absentees". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 15, 2018.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  21. Thomsen, Jacqualine (November 21, 2018). "Dem challenger concedes to incumbent Woodall in Georgia's 7th District". The Hill. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  22. Hallerman, Tamar. "Carolyn Bourdeaux to seek 7th District seat after razor-thin loss". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  23. Whitmire, Kelly (February 8, 2019). "Back again: Carolyn Bourdeaux to seek 7th District seat". Forsyth News. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  24. "The Jolt: Gwinnett's MARTA vote and the search for a GOP champion". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. February 14, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  25. Greenwood, Max (February 15, 2019). "Dem raises more than $100k since declaring bid for Georgia House seat". The Hill. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  26. "Georgia candidates set early fundraising bar with millions from donors". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. April 16, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  27. "Democrat Bourdeaux flips Georgia House seat". TheHill. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  28. "Georgia Rep.-elect Carolyn Bourdeaux, only Democrat to flip seat, says party should talk to Trump supporters". FoxNews. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  29. "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  30. Kassel, Matthew (May 21, 2020). "Carolyn Bourdeaux tries again in Georgia congressional race". Jewish Insider. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Rob Woodall		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 7th congressional district
2021–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Lauren Boebert		 United States Representatives by seniority
380th		 Succeeded by
Jamaal Bowman
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