Jack Hill

From dKosopedia

Category: Georgia Republicans

Jack Hill is a long serving state senator from Reidsville, Georgia.

Hill was elected to the State Senate in 1990 as a Democrat. His early legislative focus was on rural economic development. He climbed the leadership of the Democratic caucus, becoming Chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee and Vice Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee by the mid 1990s.

A conservative, Hill belonged to a group of rural white legislators who occasionally flirted with switching to the Republican Party.

In 2002, after Republican Sonny Perdue was elected Governor, Hill switched parties, helping tip control of the Senate to the GOP. Coming days after his reelection to the Senate as a Democrat, Hill's move prompted angry demands from Democratic Party leaders that he repay campaign contributions made to him by the party. He refused.

Hill was rewarded with appointment as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Hill is an independent grocer by trade. He served for over 30 years in the Air National Guard and is now a memebr of the Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern College and a member of the Gridiron Secret Society.