Editor’s note: With the primaries just six weeks away, five candidates are hoping to be elected to replace former state Rep. Dexter Sharper in District 177. This is the first installment of introductions to each candidate and what they’re promising to fulfill if they are elected to represent Valdosta in the state House of Representatives. Each article will include background, campaign promises and potential challenges for each candidate in order to inform voters of their goals and hopes for the seat.

VALDOSTA — Elsie Napier is a first-time candidate with no political background before her 2026 midterm campaign. Prior to her run for the district seat, she served as a public health employee for over 40 years and as a pastor with TEACH Outreach Ministries.

“I am not a career politician, nor have I served on City Council for many years like my esteemed opponents,” Napier’s campaign statement says. “However, my entire adult life has been devoted to one mission: serving Georgia’s families.”

She started her career at 20 years old working as a nurse practitioner and has worked in public health ever since, still serving as a PRN hospice worker with Affinity Hospice.

“…I’m taking care of families in their home, going in, assessing families, making sure their needs are met at the most critical time in their journey,” Napier said. “I’ve always worked with families, I’m able to see them where they are, I’m able to meet them where they are.”

Much of Napier’s campaign is focused on providing unity to the area, aiming for more communication not only between 177 and its citizens, but across South Georgia. This means working with citizens in order to improve their quality of life through legislation.

Her primary issues to tackle are improvements to the education system to better support families in the district, as well as healthcare improvements. Also part of her campaign is the issue of affordable housing and the fight against homelessness, an issue shared by organizations such as Black To The Future Action Fund.

“To me, one of the biggest things in our community that I know we can make an impact on is affordable housing,” Napier said. “There’s no reason in the world why someone has worked on a job for 10, 15 years faithfully and still cannot afford ownership of a basic home. We can fix that together in our community.”

She connects the need for affordable housing to other issues in the district and beyond; quality of education, food, and economic opportunities are among properties Napier has said would be uplifted through affordable housing.

Napier’s campaign works with the F.A.C.E. acronym, which stands for Faithful, Accountable, Committed and Empowered. This is the promise she makes for District 177 if she is elected for all who reside in the area and beyond.

To read the original article, click HERE.