State Sen. Brian Strickland, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, came to Statesboro for a campaign event last Tuesday as he seeks the office of Georgia attorney general by way of the Republican primary. In an interview, he touted his past wins in a legislative “swing” district as showing ability to win in a state not guaranteed to go GOP “red.”

“Well, I think that our state is at a big crossroads,” Strickland said. “If you look at the Public Service Commission race a few weeks ago, we saw that our state can go blue, and as a result of that election you’re now going to see hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into Georgia trying to flip our state in ’26.”

In fact, two Georgia Public Service Commission seats went “blue” with the election of Democratic challengers by substantial margins over Republican incumbents in special elections on the Nov. 4 ballot. Of course, both of the Georgia’s  U.S. Senate seats – one of which will also be on the ballot next year, are currently held by Democrats. But all of the state constitutional offices, from Governor on down, are still held by Republicans, and the Republican party holds majorities of both chambers of the Legislature.

Strickland was interviewed Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 2, at the Visit Statesboro! center on South Main Street, before the start of a campaign fundraising reception.

Now 42, he grew up at McDonough, where he graduated from Henry County High School. Then he went to Valdosta State University for a bachelor’s degree in economics, and to Florida Coastal School of Law for his law degree. Returning to McDonough, he became a partner with the Smith, Welch, Webb & White law firm, which is based there but has other offices in the  southern part of metro Atlanta.

He and his wife, Lindsay, married since 2014, are now raising two sons, ages 6 and 8, in McDonough.

Legislative service

First elected to the state House of Representatives from District 111 in 2012,  Strickland served in the House five years, then ran for a Senate seat and is currently in his eighth year in the Senate, now representing District 42.

While in the House, he served on the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, which evaluates bills that can become criminal laws. In the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, which he has chaired since 2021, “has all of the legal bills and constitutional issues, including criminal law bills that come up there as well,” he said.

The party primaries will conclude May 19 or in a June 16 primary runoff before the parties’ nominees for all the top state offices face off in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. Current Attorney General Chris Carr isn’t seeking re-election to that office but is instead one of the Republican primary contenders for governor, so the attorney general’s office is open for a new contender.

Strickland said it’s an office whose importance is often underappreciated.

“If you put the wrong person in that office, whether it be a Republican or a Democrat, they can throw a wrench into all the progress Georgia’s had, no matter who our next governor is, who our next U.S. senator is,” he said. “It’s important that we get the right person in this office, and I think that I am uniquely qualified to win this election and serve well for us.”

‘Swing district’ winner

What he means by that, he said, is that the  area where he  lives in Henry County is one of Georgia’s “few legislative districts that is a swing district,” yet he has remained in office since 2012  through general elections occurring every two years since 2012.

“I’ve had some very difficult elections, including in 2020 where  Joe Biden got 54 percent of my district,  yet I still won as a conservative Republican,” Strickland said.

“It’s not by accident,” he said. “It’s  because I’m a hard worker, and I’m not afraid to go out there and engage people who will fight me, that think differently than me, and I’m someone that will go out there and I believe that the principles that I have as a conservative are the right principles. …

“ I don’t mind defending that,” Strickland continued, “and what I’ve found is that even people who disagree with me, if you go out and engage individuals and you work hard and you do exactly what you say you’re going to do when  you get elected, that you can get independents, you can even get some Democrats to vote for you, and that’s what I think it’s going to take in the ’26 election.”

He has never been a district attorney or other type of prosecutor, but his experience as a lawyer is as a general practitioner with a firm doing “a little bit of everything,” he said. The Georgia Department of Law, which the attorney general leads, also isn’t just a criminal-law agency, but has civil-law functions as well and, under Carr, has taken on some investigatory roles in areas such as elder abuse and human trafficking.

Strickland said he is committed to being “a competent, hard worker,” in the attorney general’s office, “someone that’s going to work with law enforcement to take on organized crime in our state. …”

“We want to be a state that stands up for law enforcement, stands up for law and order and goes after those that commit crimes in our state,” he said.

His approach would be to offer support for sheriffs and district attorneys, not tell them what to do, he said.

Defending laws in court

“On the civil side of the office,” Strickland said, “it’s important that we have someone in this role too that’s not afraid to go and do the hard work it’s going to take to defend the laws that we pass when there’s lawsuits. What we’ve seen  from the left is when they can’t win a debate at the state Capitol, and you have an issue that we have passed a common-sense law at the state house, they go across the street to the courthouse and sue.”

Asked for examples, he referred to the “Heartbeat Bill” or six-week abortion ban, the Senate Bill 202 “Election Integrity Act” and a law passed in the last legislative session to block the use of taxpayer dollars for “gender reassignment surgeries” in the state prison system.

He said an attorney general is needed who will not hesitate or settle “but will fight all the way to the end in our civil system as well” to defend such legislation.

The attorney general also has responsibility to provide legal guidance to all of the state agencies.

“I want to go there and make sure that we have a voice in those agencies, that these agencies are functioning for all Georgians and that they’re following of course our law, following our Constitution, and we have a state that is responsive and provides the services that we need for all citizens,” Strickland said.

Consumer protection

He said he also wants to focus  a lot on building up the Consumer Protection Division in the Attorney General’s Office.

“We have so many people … and it’s getting worse now with A.I., with artificial intelligence now, really the technology constantly changing day by day, so many people are taken advantage of, whether they be elderly, people with special needs, our children,” Strickland said. “We need someone in that office to go in there every single day and fight to shut down the bad actors.”