Gloria Butler

{{Short description|American politician (born 1941)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Gloria Butler |image = Gloria Butler.jpg |office = Minority Leader of the Georgia Senate |term_start = January 11, 2021 |term_end = January 13, 2025 |predecessor = Steve Henson |successor = Harold Jones |state_senate1 = Georgia |district1 = 55th |term_start1 = January 11, 1999 |term_end1 = January 13, 2025 |predecessor1 = Steve Henson |successor1 = Randal Mangham |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1941|12|25}} |birth_place = Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Democratic |education = Perimeter College }} '''Gloria Singleton Butler''' (born December 25, 1941) is an American retired politician from the state of Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, Butler served as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 1999 to 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/17612/gloria-butler#.VUvW89pViko|title = The Voter's Self Defense System}}</ref><ref name="sgagov"><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.senate.ga.gov/senators/en-US/member.aspx?Member=5&Session=23 Senator Gloria S. Butler]</span>. Senate.ga.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2013.</ref> She represented the 55th district, which encompasses parts of DeKalb County and Gwinnett County.<ref><span class="plainlinks">[http://www.senate.ga.gov/senators/en-US/District.aspx?District=55&Session=23 District 55 Senator Gloria S. Butler (D)]</span>. Senate.ga.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2013.</ref> Butler served as Senate Minority Leader from 2021 to 2025.

==Early life and education== Gloria S. Butler graduated from Perimeter College with an associate degree in business administration. She is a member of the National Council of Negro Women, DeKalb Women's Political Caucus, National Women's Political Caucus (governing member), and the DeKalb County NAACP (lifetime member).

==Political career== Butler was elected in 1998 and sworn into the Senate in 1999.<ref name="sgagov"/> She served thirteen terms in the Georgia State Senate.

On November 16, 2020, Butler was elected Senate Minority Leader, becoming the first woman to lead a party caucus in the Senate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-senate-democrats-pick-stone-mountain-lawmaker-to-lead-them/MPLG2RS3JBA7ZAGLX55SV6LPJY/|title=Stone Mountain lawmaker becomes first woman to lead Georgia Senate caucus|first=James|last=Salzer|website=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|access-date=January 12, 2021}}</ref> Butler was the second woman to lead a party caucus in either chamber after Stacey Abrams, who led the House Democratic minority from 2011 to 2017.

Butler retired from the Senate in 2024.

==See also== {{Portal|State of Georgia}} * List of state government committees (Georgia)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/senate/5 Profile] at the Georgia State Senate

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ga-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Steve Henson}} {{s-ttl|title=Minority Leader of the Georgia Senate|years=2021–2025}} {{s-aft|after=Harold V. Jones II}} {{s-end}}

{{Democratic Party of Georgia}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Georgia (U.S. state)|Politics|United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Gloria S.}} Category:1941 births Category:2020 United States presidential electors Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly Category:21st-century American women politicians Category:21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly Category:Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Category:Living people Category:People from Stone Mountain, Georgia Category:Perimeter College at Georgia State University alumni Category:Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state)