At 21, Akbar Ali heads to Georgia legislature focused on affordability and civil rights

Democrat Akbar Ali, 21, will be the youngest member of the Georgia General Assembly in 2026 after winning the seat for House District 106.

“If there was one word to describe it, it would be grateful, above all else. Just grateful to my family, my friends, my team, various organizations that have helped me out. But most importantly, the people of House District 106 that have chosen me… to represent them down at the Gold Dome,” Ali said. “It’s a high honor, and I am not taking anything for granted here. I mean, in fact, I guess the second way to describe how I’m feeling is just straight to work.”

Ali will replace former state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson, who resigned earlier this year to provide care for a family member. The Gwinnett state House seat covers portions of Lawrenceville and Snellville.

Priorities for the legislative session

Affordability

“It’s no secret that many families, many seniors, many young people, not just in House District 106, but just throughout Georgia, are suffering high costs of living, from high costs of insurance, to high costs of housing, to high costs of health care. So, that is top of the agenda, not just for me, but for a lot of my colleagues,” Ali said.

To address affordability issues, Ali said the first step is addressing the cost of health care and expanding Medicaid should be a priority for the state.

“It would not only save costs for millions of Georgians, not only give them access to health care…, but also keep a lot of rural hospitals open and alive as well, which I think just benefits the entire state, not just Gwinnett County,” he said.

Ali also said he would like to tackle issues with investor-owned housing because he attributed it to driving housing prices up in Gwinnett County. The county has the most corporate-owned rental homes in the state, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Education

Ali said he is a proud product of the public education system in Georgia, attending Duke High School in Wilburn and going to Kennesaw State University. 

“I think that people move to Gwinnett County, but also House District 106, for our fantastic public schools. I want to protect that with a lot of the federal cuts coming, and a lot of the attacks that are happening, like the voucher bill,” he said.

Ali is referring to the Georgia voucher program passed in 2024 that helped more than 8,000 children move from public schools with low test score averages to private schools, according to the Georgia Recorder.

The Quality Basic Education formula has not been revised since the 1980s, he said, and he wants to take a look at it while also protecting funding for college students, such as the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) scholarship.

Civil Rights

Ali said he wants to defend the civil rights of his constituents who have faced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the past few months.

“We’re still reeling from that, and furthermore, just our voting rights that need to be protected and just need to be safeguarded from various threats that are coming in from that,” he said.

Who is Akbar Ali?

Ali said one of the reasons he believes the community trusts him as their representative is his community and civic engagement in the past.

“I’ve always been very civically engaged. Even before I could vote, I was holding pro-choice marches. I was doing work within the community,” he said. “I’m always of the mindset of when an opportunity to serve your community presents itself, you should try your hardest and go for it, and I’m glad to have been given this chance and to be allowed to prove myself here.”

Ali serves as the Gwinnett County Democratic Party First Vice Chair and received several endorsements for his campaign, including from Hutchinson, former Gov. Roy Barnes, House Democratic Whip Sam Park and recently elected Public Service Commissioner Peter Hubbard.

“I also feel like it alleviated some of the concerns about my youth, as well, where, so to speak, when the former governor, Roy Barnes, and the incumbent, Shelly Hutchinson, among many, many others, said, ‘Hey, I support this young man.’ It helped show that don’t just take my word for my competency and my matureness here, take their word for it, as well,” he said.

Ali said he became interested in civic engagement at a young age when his mosque was subject to anti-Muslim hate and were receiving threats of violence. 

“That kind of sparked the civic engagement, the fact that we need to be civically minded, but also fight against discrimination, not just for my community, but also for the various communities throughout this incredibly diverse county, and incredibly diverse state, because everyone deserves equal protection under the law, everyone deserves the right to due process, and everyone deserves freedom from hatred against their identities,” Ali said.

Ali said he understands that his age is very noticeable and might cause concerns about a lack of experience, but he owns his own business and has served in leadership positions before.

“I intend on building bridges, regardless of identity, to just be focused on getting progress done,” he said. “I have proudly won my election. I have proudly been chosen to serve in this role, and… I feel that I have the necessary experience, the necessary maturity, and the necessary backing to be able to serve this role. I look forward to doing so.”