HT – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

By Jim Wooten

State Rep. Melvin Everson, now of Snellville, hopes to be the first black Republican to win statewide office in Georgia. He’s running for state labor commissioner, an office Democrat Michael Thurman is rumored to be leaving to run for lieutenant governor.

When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, Everson was living in Snellville. Shortly thereafter, he and other parents chaperoned a school trip to Jekyll Island. Talk turned to politics. Several urged him to run for City Council in Snellville, which was then 96 percent white.

He lost the first time in 1995, but five years later became the first African-American to serve on Snellville City Council.

In 2004, he ran for the General Assembly. He lost, but won a special election the next year by 27 votes. Then his margins widened. He won with 65 percent in 2006 and 58 percent in 2008 in a district that has become increasingly Democratic, though it’s still about 60 percent Republican.

Everson, one of two black Republicans in the House —- the other is Willie Talton of Warner Robins .

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