Richard Marshall "Rich" Golick (born September 18, 1966, in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

) is former a member of 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 ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Golick is a Republican, and represented District 40, which encompassed parts of southeastern

Cobb County Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a core county of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north-central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. It is the state's third most populous cou ...

. In 2016, he was re-elected to his tenth term in this seat, defeating Democratic challenger Erick Allen by 7 points. He was succeeded by Allen after not running for re-election in 2018, and left office in January 2019.

Biography

Golick received a degree in political science from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

and a law degree from

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

. Golick is a member of several civic groups in his hometown of

Smyrna, Georgia Smyrna is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is located northwest of Atlanta, and is in the inner ring of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta MSA, which is included in the Atla ...

. He is married to Maria Golick, a State Court Judge in Cobb County, with whom he has two sons, Marshall and Davis.

As state representative

Golick was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1998. Golick served as Senior Administration Floor Leader under governor

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American politician, veterinarian, and businessman who served as the 31st United States secretary of agriculture from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

. Golick is a member of the Appropriations, Insurance, and Judiciary committees and serves as Chairman of the Judiciary Non-Civil committee. During the 2005-2006 legislative session, Golick co-sponsored several important pieces of legislation, including potential amendments to the state constitution. H.R. 1045, which would have tightened restrictions on the uses of money used to fund the

HOPE scholarship The Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Program is a scholarship and grant initiative established in Georgia in 1993. Under the guidance of then- Governor Zell Miller, the program was designed to provide financial aid to exceptional ...

program, was defeated, while H.R. 1306, which would place new restrictions on the government's ability to use

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

, passed for and will be included on the November ballot for approval by Georgia voters. In March 2017, a bill in the Georgia House drew criticism because it would increase the number of white voters in District 40 by about 5,000, while decreasing the number of black voters there by about 2,000. Golick, who has held the seat from this district since 1999, voted in favor of the bill. Golick's unsuccessful 2016 challenger, Erick Allen, called the bill a "blatant effort" by Republicans to keep Democrats from defeating them in the district.

References

External links

Golick's legislative bio
1966 births Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Georgia State University College of Law alumni Living people Emory University alumni People from Smyrna, Georgia 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub