ATLANTA, Ga. — Republican state Sen. Brian Strickland says his legal background, years chairing the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee, and a hands-on approach to public safety and consumer protection led him to seek Georgia’s top law enforcement post.
Strickland, an attorney from Henry County, launched his campaign for attorney general after what he described as two years of encouragement from supporters and careful consideration of the personal cost to his family.
“People came to me consistently over the last two years telling me I should do this,” Strickland said in an interview at the Capitol. “It’s a big sacrifice for your family. I have to give up my law practice. It’s a full-time job. I’ve got two small children, we live in McDonough, my firm is there, and I have a great life. This was not an easy decision.”
AG is an important office
Strickland said the importance of the office — and the consequences of the wrong person holding it — ultimately pushed him to run.
“Most people don’t really know what the attorney general does,” he said. “But you would
know on day one if the wrong person got this job. You need someone who believes in law and order, who will support local law enforcement, district attorneys and sheriffs, and who will actually show up and do the work.”
As chairman of the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee, Strickland said criminal law dominates the panel’s work each session, often driven by real-world cases brought to lawmakers by prosecutors.
“Every year, it’s criminal law,” he said. “Prosecutors will come to us and say, ‘I had this case, and there was a loophole in the law. You’ve got to fix it.’ That happens every single session.”
Working with sheriffs
Mental health policy is another recurring challenge, particularly as it intersects with county jails.
“Every sheriff will tell you their local jail is the biggest mental health facility in the community,” Strickland said. “We’re always grappling with how to get people who don’t need to be locked up out of the system and into the help they need, while making sure we have room for the people who do need to be held.”
Strickland said the committee often spends significant time working through legislation that may appear simple at first glance.
“A lot of these criminal law bills look simple on the surface, but they’re not,” he said. “We have to get it right — to give prosecutors the tools they need to prosecute the bad guys and to make sure sheriffs have the support they need when they’re tasked with holding people while they wait for trial.”
Habersham County Sheriff Robin Krockum described Strickland as “a strong advocate for public safety,” while noting he does not comment for or against candidates for public office and will continue to work with whoever is elected.
Public safety and consumer protection fuels his platform
Raised on a row-crop farm in Henry County, Strickland said he was the first in his family to pursue a career outside agriculture. His interest in the law was sparked in high school, when the Henry County Board of Education condemned 42 acres of his father’s farmland for a new school.
“My dad fought it tooth and nail,” Strickland said. “It went all the way to a jury trial, and I sat in the courtroom on the last day as a high school student. It didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but that experience stuck with me. That’s when I knew I needed to get a law degree so I could fight for people like my dad.”
On the campaign trail, Strickland said his platform centers on public safety, consumer protection, and what he calls a hands-on approach to the office.
“Our platform starts with fighting for Georgia families,” he said. “I have two small children that I’m raising in this state, and I’m going to fight for every family as hard as I fight for my own.”
That includes backing law enforcement, he said, standing up to organized crime, and defending state laws in court.
“This is a full-time, working job,” Strickland said. “It’s not a figurehead position or a part-time gig. You have to go in, run the largest law firm in the state, hire good people, and be in the trenches every single day.”
Strickland also pointed to the attorney general’s Consumer Affairs Division as a key focus, particularly as scams increasingly target seniors and other vulnerable Georgians.
“I was on the phone this morning with a sheriff in east Georgia, and the first thing he told me was about another scam,” Strickland said. “This individual fell for a Bitcoin scam and lost $30,000.”
He said the attorney general’s office is solely responsible for enforcing Georgia’s consumer protection laws.
“If you haven’t heard much about that division before, you will,” Strickland said. “We’re going to double down on it and go after people in every corner — not just of our state, but nationally and internationally — working with federal authorities to hold scammers accountable.”
Strickland said scams surged in parts of south and east Georgia following Hurricane Helene and continue to target seniors, people with special needs, and everyday residents.
“People don’t always see it coming,” he said. “Scammers are constantly adapting, and with AI, it’s only getting worse.”
Love in the legislative process
Strickland’s wife, Lindsay Strickland, said she has watched his leadership style take shape over years of public service and tough campaigns. The two met while working in state government. Lindsay Strickland now serves as vice president for governmental relations for the Georgia World Congress Center and previously worked for former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal.
“I’ve watched Brian grow, mature, and step into leadership roles in both the House and the Senate,” she said. “We’ve run and won very tough races that weren’t easy on our family, but they made us stronger.”
She described him as calm, measured, and focused on results rather than recognition.
“He doesn’t have an ego,” she said. “He’s never cared who gets the credit as long as the work gets done.”
Lindsay Strickland said their shared experience in government helped prepare their family for the demands of the campaign.
“We made the decision for him to run as a family, and we knew it would not be easy,” she said. “But the theme for us has always been family. It’s about keeping Georgia a great place for families.”
Strickland is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general in a May 19 primary. He will face Sen. Bill Cowsert from Athens. On the Democratic side, former House Minority Leader Bob Trammell is running against state Rep. Tanya Miller.
