Elena Catherine Parent (born December 27, 1975) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, she serves in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

and previously served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

Personal life

Parent was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

She received both her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

and

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. She has two children with her husband, Briley. She was an associate attorney with

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, rebranded to the abbreviated name of Sutherland, was an AmLaw 100 American law firm. Founded in 1924 by William Sutherland and Elbert Tuttle as Sutherland & Tuttle, the firm originally achieved national promi ...

from 2002 to 2008.

Political career

In 2010, Parent was elected to serve in the

, representing District 81 from 2011 to 2013. She did not run for reelection in 2013 after her seat was combined with the district of

Scott Holcomb Michael Scott Holcomb (born November 2, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and Army veteran. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents District 81 in the Georgia House of Representatives, which includes portions of DeKalb and G ...

after the state's redistricting process. When Jason Carter decided to run for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

in 2014, Parent ran for the open seat in District 42, which includes portions of central and north

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johann de Kalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part ...

. She defeated attorney Kyle Williams in the Democratic primary. She won reelection on November 3, 2020, for a fourth term in the Georgia Senate beginning in 2021. In 2025, she crossed party lines to vote in favor of a bill banning gender affirming care for state prisoners.

References

External links

Profile
at the

Campaign website
1975 births Living people Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) People from DeKalb County, Georgia Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women politicians Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers University of Virginia alumni 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub