ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — Two South Georgia legislative races will be on the Nov. 3 midterm ballot, and both candidates are running unopposed. State lawmakers head to Atlanta to vote on Georgia laws and the state budget. They serve two-year terms.

House District 177 covers parts of Lowndes County, including Valdosta. Senate District 12 covers part of southwest Georgia, including parts of Dougherty County.

Elsie Cason Napier (D) - House District 177

Napier is the Democratic nominee for House District 177, and she has no opponent.

Napier trained as a nurse at Valdosta State and Georgia Southern. She then spent 42 years with Georgia Public Health, working as a nurse practitioner and district manager across 10 counties, according to her campaign website. She has also led TEACH Outreach Ministries in Valdosta as pastor for 25 years.

She says running is a “faith-based assignment” for her - a chance to speak up for people and families who often go unheard, according to her campaign website and WALB interview.

Where she stands, according to her campaign website and WALB interview:

• Healthcare access: Expand coverage, especially for working adults ages 19-64 without insurance and people at higher risk
• Affordable housing: Bring local groups together to add more housing options
• Public education: Keep public schools strong and open to all
• Community approach: Meet people where they are, work with both parties, and back transitional housing and food ministries

Edward Brown (D) - Senate District 12

Brown is the Democratic nominee for Senate District 12, and he has no opponent.

Brown grew up in southwest Georgia and went to Deerfield-Windsor. He studied finance and accounting in college, then picked up graduate degrees in economics, public policy, and economic history, according to his campaign website and LinkedIn profile.

After school, he served on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. He later worked at a D.C. think tank and as an economist tracking jobs and wages. He now works in Albany as Director of Corporate Development at the Fred Taylor Company. Outside work, he volunteers with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany, Feeding the Valley Food Bank, and United Way of Southwest Georgia.

He says a lot of Georgians are working harder but falling behind, as groceries, housing, and health care keep costing more, according to his campaign website and WALB interview. He says the state gets praised for business growth, but workers have not felt that success. His pitch is about fairer business rules, more opportunity, and treating every Georgian with respect.

Where he stands, according to his campaign website and WALB interview:

• Economy and taxes: Bring back stepped tax brackets based on income, start a state bank to fund rural projects, and put money into roads, clean energy, and modern farming
• Agriculture: Offer free grant-writing help to small farms, add tax breaks for beginning farmers, and teach farming in every public high school
• Food and nutrition: Bring back summer food money for kids, offer tax breaks for grocery stores in areas with few fresh-food options, put more money into food banks, and set up a backup food supply for SNAP delays
• Healthcare: Expand Medicaid, make the group that reviews maternal deaths more open, and bring care to rural areas with mobile clinics and video visits
• Education: End private-school vouchers, send extra money to schools with more students in poverty, put more into public colleges, and help students pay for housing with HOPE+ vouchers
• Housing: Let builders use smaller lots so more starter homes can go up, and push a plan to end homelessness in five years
• Voting and government: Allow people to register and vote on the same day, stop large voter-list removals, and move to a full-time legislature with fair pay

Information for this story comes from Elsie Napier’s campaign website, her WALB interview, Edward Brown’s campaign website, his LinkedIn profile, and WALB’s interview with Brown. Early voting information and sample ballots can be found at Georgia’s My Voter Page.

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