Nikema Williams
Nikema Williams, a Democrat who has represented Georgia's 5th congressional district since 2021 and chaired the Democratic Party of Georgia from 2019 to 2025, faces Republican John Salvesen in her 2026 reelection race.
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- Born
- July 30, 1978
- Birthplace
- Columbus, Georgia
- Education
- Talladega College (Bachelor of Arts in biology)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Nikema Williams was born on July 30, 1978, in Columbus, Georgia, and was raised in Smiths Station, Alabama. Her great-aunt, Autherine Lucy, integrated the University of Alabama.
Williams graduated from Talladega College with a Bachelor of Arts in biology, becoming a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and moved to Atlanta in 2002.
In Atlanta she joined the Young Democrats of Georgia, later served as vice president for public policy at Planned Parenthood Southeast, and in 2018 became state director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Career
Williams held party office in Georgia for several years before winning elected office, becoming first vice chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia in 2011 and briefly serving as its interim chair in 2013.
She won a 2017 special election to the Georgia State Senate after Vincent Fort resigned, and represented the 39th district from 2017 to 2021. In January 2019 the party's state committee elected her chair, making her the first Black woman to lead the party.
She resigned as chair on March 31, 2025, after the committee approved her proposal to make the post a full-time, salaried position.
After the death of John Lewis, the party's executive committee selected Williams on July 20, 2020, to replace him on the November ballot for the 5th district. She won that election and took office in 2021, then defeated Republican Christian Zimm in 2022 and Republican John Salvesen in 2024. She was also one of 16 Georgia electors after the 2020 presidential election. In the 119th Congress she serves on the Committee on Financial Services.
2026 race
Nikema Williams is seeking another term in Georgia's 5th congressional district, which comprises most of central Atlanta and which she won with 85.7% of the vote in 2024. In the Democratic primary she defeated consumer services specialist Arnetress Beatty, taking 88.0% of the vote.
Her Republican opponent in the November 3, 2026, general election is John Salvesen, a handyman who was unopposed for the Republican nomination. The contest is a rematch of 2024, when Williams defeated Salvesen by a 71-point margin.