ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Georgia State Sen. Freddie Powell Sims said on Monday, March 23, that she had decided to resign. This comes after she returned to Albany from Atlanta regarding a family medical emergency.

“I am withdrawing, resigning from the Senate,” she said. “My husband is very, very ill, gravely ill. Family comes first.”

Sims represented the 12th District, which includes Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Dougherty, Randolph, Stewart, Terrell, Quitman and Webster counties as well as portions of Mitchell and Sumter counties.

Sims was elected in 2008 and would have faced three challengers in the May 19, 2026, primary.

According to the Albany Herald, the three challengers remaining in the District 12 Democratic primary are: Edward Brown, Corey Morgan and Tracy Taylor.

In the State Senate, Sims was a member of several Senate committees.

Below is a list of committees Sims served on:

• Secretary of the Education and Youth Committee
• Vice Chairwoman of Interstate Cooperation
• Member of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs
• Appropriations and Natural Resources and the Environment Committees

While in the education field, the principal married Norman Sims who was the principal at the Phoenix School of Achievement, which was the Dougherty County School System’s alternative school campus.

Below, you can find Sims’ official resignation.

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