Meet David

The son of a hardware salesman and a nurse at Crawford Long Hospital, David Adelman was raised in Atlanta where he and his wife Caroline are raising their three children. He is an attorney who holds degrees from the University of Georgia, Georgia State University and the Emory Law School.

In the Georgia Senate, David has been an effective leader who listens to the needs and concerns of Georgians and gets results that make a difference for our families. David came to the Georgia Senate on the strength of a grass roots campaign. He is a common sense legislator who in his first term authored and passed legislation protecting children, fighting domestic violence, streamlining Georgia's corporate code and providing for DNA testing in criminal cases. He co-sponsored other measures relating to business, education, transportation and the environment.

Since first being elected, David has earned a reputation as a moderate legislator who works across party lines. He was appointed by Georgia's Republican Lt. Governor to be Chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs Committee making him one of only two Democratic chairmen in the General Assembly. He was unanimously elected Chairman of the bipartisan Georgia Code Revision Commission. The Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court appointed David to served on her select Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law. David was the only Democratic Senator appointed to serve on the Conference Committee considering funding for the Statewide Trauma Care Network and he continues to lead the fight to establish and fund a trauma care network in Georgia.

In 2004, David was re-elected with more than 78% of the vote. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution endorsed David for re-election, calling him "one of the brightest lights" in the Senate. David won that year with a higher share of the vote than any other state senator running in Georgia. Following his re-election, his colleagues in the Senate elected him Minority Whip, making him the second highest ranking Democrat in the Georgia Senate in only his second term.

During the 2005 Session, David authored and passed legislation cracking down on cyberpredators, improving safety on public transit and creating a "Share the Road" license tag with proceeds to fund cycling programs. David is one of the General Assembly's strongest supporters of open government. In the 2006 Session he authored and passed legislation that provides public access to campus police department records. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation described this legislation as the first change in Georgia law since 1999 that increases the public's right to know.

In 2008, David was re-elected with an overwhelming margin of more than 80 % of the vote. He has served as the Democratic Whip in the Georgia Senate since 2006.

In the 2009 Session, David introduced bills that would reform Georgia's Ethics in Government laws and require electric power companies to invest in renewable energy. He authored and passed the bipartisan law which prohibits the award of state contracts to companies which are underwriting the genocide in Darfur.