Q&A: Meet Akbar Ali, Georgia’s youngest state representative

At just 21 years old, state Rep. Akbar Ali (D-Lawrenceville) became Georgia’s youngest seated legislator on Monday when the state’s 2026 legislative session kicked off.

But before he did, Atlanta Civic Circle caught up with Ali at Reyna’s Café, a progressive hangout in downtown Lawrenceville. Ali says he ran his campaign from there last year to win a special election after Democratic state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson resigned her House District 106 seat in September. Ali clinched the Gwinnett County seat by just 153 votes in the Dec 2. runoff election, with a tally of 957 votes to 794 for fellow Democrat Marqus Cole.

Ali, the eldest son of Pakistani immigrants, just graduated from Kennesaw State University last year and owns his own graphic and web design business. The young entrepreneur describes himself as a “practical progressive” and says he hopes to work across the aisle to address the housing and cost of living issues all Georgians face. 

He also wants to be a champion for his Gwinnett district, one of the most demographically diverse in the state with a high immigrant population. 

“I’m the story of my district,” Ali said. “This is an area that immigrant families will move to once they’ve got their footing, once they’ve got enough money to buy a house and build a life.” 

Ali will have to defend his seat in this year’s statewide elections, but he has the next few months to build a record to run on before the May 19 primaries. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

Atlanta Civic Circle: What activated you to get involved in politics – and how did you end up running for state office at such a young age? 

Akbar Ali: I helped recharter the [Gwinnett] Young Democrats in 2023 and served as secretary for a while. I had mentors in the county party, like former state Sen. Curt Thompson, who is now chairman of the [Gwinnett Democratic] party. There was a vacancy for the first vice chair, the party’s second in command, around 2024 – and there was an appetite for someone younger, so I was elected. 

But my activation came when I was much younger. Back in 2010-2011, my mosque, Dar-e ‘Abbas, was the site of hate crimes, because the city of Lilburn was denying its zoning application to expand, which the mosque contested. That led to flyers being passed out saying, “Stop the Muslim takeover of Lilburn,” and threats of arson and violence against us. And it really only stopped when my community elders got together with Obama’s Department of Justice and put a stop to it. And so I know what good governance looks like.

I suppose, unfortunately, it was a formative memory.

What are your goals for your district as both a state representative and the son of immigrants?

When I was growing up, my family at one point only had white rice to eat every night. We were able to go from that up the economic ladder to now owning our own house, which I help out with. 

But I believe the economic ladder that we have, especially in this area, is starting to erode. The wealth gap is getting larger, unfortunately – and the ladder is starting to go away. I want to address that. 

I’m one of the few representatives that actually has Spanish-speaking staff in the Capitol. It’s something that we should be improving upon, especially when a lot of the constituent case work in Gwinnett is with Hispanic families. I want our constituent services to be the best that they can be.

What are your policy goals for the session, recognizing that as a Democrat you are in the minority party? 

When it comes to policy, it seems like there is a lot of common ground between the parties on tackling affordability – especially for insurance prices, health care prices, and housing costs. We saw that last session with a bipartisan bill to limit investor-owned housing. [House Bill 305, the “Protect the Dream” Act, stalled in the House last year without coming to a vote. -Ed.]

I’m sharing a suite [in the House] with several moderate Republicans like Deborah Silcox (R-Sandy Springs). I’m confident that I can build a relationship with them, as I have with several other Republicans in the legislature already. I intend to build bridges without compromising my values.

Reforming homeowners associations [HOAs] and adding regulation to HOAs to protect homeowners is number one. It’s because I’ve seen many people within my district, neighboring districts, and just Georgia in general who have been discriminated against with high fines and unnecessary legal trouble. 

There are reasonable HOA reforms that have been passed in Florida and Texas, both deep red states. We’re talking about a mandatory vote on [HOA agreement] renewals every five years, mandatory line-item budgets, and a mechanism to have mandatory notification for any fines and any sort of lien on an HOA member’s property.

What does it mean to you to be the youngest member of the legislature?

I am not going to let my identity get in the way of serving my constituents. But it’s a sign that there’s an appetite for fresher blood. There’s an appetite for something new.

“We just can’t wait anymore,” is something I heard, not just from the younger generation but also the older generation, when I was campaigning. I want to really emphasize that this was a multi-generational, multiracial, multi-ethnic coalition that we built.

It’s not about age. It’s about drive, energy, standing on your principles, and having a spine, so to speak. That’s what people are looking for, at least on our side of the aisle.