December 19, 2021–12:02 p.m.
STAFF REPORTS
Former Georgia US Senator Johnny Isakson has died.
Isakson served in the Senate from 2005 to 2019.
Before that, he served the 6th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives from 1995 to 2005.
He also ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1990, losing to Zell Miller.
In 2015, Isakson announced that he had Parkinson’s disease, but would continue to serve in the Senate for four more years.
Isakson died Sunday at the age of 76.
Senator Raphael Warnock, who now serves in the seat formerly held by Isakson, issued a statement Sunday, which read:
“All of Georgia is grieving the loss of a political giant this morning. Senator Johnny Isakson represented the best of our state and our country. Senator Isakson was known for putting Georgia first and working across the aisle to get things done. I enjoyed spending time with Senator Isakson, including every year when he would come join Ebenezer Baptist Church for our annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And, I will always cherish the words of advice and encouragement he gave me after I was elected to be one of Georgia’s next United States Senators.
“His model of public service is an example to future generations of leaders on how to stand on principle and make progress while also governing with compassion and a heart for compromise. We’re all better for Senator Isakson’s many decades of service, and it is an honor to serve in the seat he once held. He was an upstanding elected official, and an even better man. I will miss him, and I send my deepest sympathies to his family and all of us across Georgia and the country who loved and admired him.”
