State Senate District 47 Has New Democratic Candidate After Former Candidate’s Conviction
Brenda Hankinson is the new candidate for Georgia State Senate District 47 after the arrest and conviction of the prior Democratic candidate.
Justin Gillespie was arrested and booked at the Madison County Courthouse on Sept. 16, according to the incident report, after being found guilty of cruelty to children in the first-degree, which is a felony.
The criminal case dates to February 2021, Capt. Brenan Baird of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office said in an interview. The incident happened at Happy Kids Daycare in Hull, according to Madison County Superior Court records for State v. Justin Grant Gillespie.
Gillespie was originally arrested in March 2021 and released on bond, Baird said. Gillespie will serve two years in the Georgia Department of Corrections before being sent to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia, for the start of the remainder of his seven-year sentence.
Hankinson announced Sept. 28 that she filed paperwork to challenge incumbent Frank Ginn in the state senate race.
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Hankinson, a University of Georgia graduate, has worked in academia, agricultural extension and the pharmaceutical industry. Hankinson said in an Instagram post that she “believes working families deserve an economy that works for them – not just those at the top.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect city for the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, also known as Jackson State Prison.
