Senator Tim Golden to Seek 5th Term in State Senate

April 24, 2006 -- Valdosta, GA – State Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta) announced today that he will qualify at the State Capitol seeking a fifth term in the Georgia State Senate.

“It has been a great honor serving our area in the State Senate for the past eight years,” said Senator Golden, a 16-year veteran of the Georgia General Assembly, having served in the Georgia House of Representatives for eight years prior to his election to the State Senate in 1999. “I have worked to reflect the views and values of the 8th District in the State Senate, and I look forward to continuing to fight for our vital interests at the State Capitol in the future.”

Senator Golden serves on the influential Insurance & Labor Committee as well as on the Committee on Higher Education; Science & Technology and is Vice Chairman of the Committee on Interstate Cooperation.  Golden was elected Chairman of the Senate Minority Caucus by his peers in 2005.

Senator Golden has been called the “voice of small business at the State Capitol”

by the Georgia Retail Association.  The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has named Golden the “Guardian of Small Business” on three different occasions, and the Valdosta Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce named him the “Champion of Business” in 2002 for his work making the “sales tax” holiday a reality.

In 1993, Golden was named the “Distinguished Alumnus” for Valdosta State University in recognition of his work on behalf of the University.  Known as a “friend of education”, Golden has long fought for better pay for teachers, for proactive legislation to aid our schools and children, helped create the HOPE scholarship program, and continue to fight for lower class sizes in our schools.

This past Thursday, Senator Golden was presented with the Georgia Hospital Association Legislative Leadership Award, the second straight year he has received this honor, for working to make health care more affordable and accessible to all Georgians.

Senator Golden is married to the former Ellen Stewart, an attorney in the firm of Clyatt and Golden in Valdosta.   They attend Park Avenue United Methodist Church and have a son, Seth, 9.  He is co-owner of Beacon Hill Financial, a full service mortgage brokerage firm also located in Valdosta.