With David Ralston stepping down, Effingham legislator Jon Burns is up for Georgia Speaker role

Effingham County lawmaker Jon Burns is a frontrunner to succeed David Ralston as Speaker of the House in the Georgia General Assembly. Ralston, a North Georgia Republican, recently announced he would be stepping down due to health concerns after serving as speaker for the past 12 years.

In a recent interview, Ralston said the "House needs a Speaker who can devote the necessary time and energy" to the position.

"I love the House and want to see the honorable men and women who serve in it succeed. I will work the remainder of my term as Speaker to ensure a smooth transition for my successor," he said.

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Burns, who represents parts of Effingham and Bulloch counties in House District 159, currently serves as the House majority leader, who heads the majority party caucus. The House speaker is the chamber's most powerful role and is widely considered the second-most influential position in Georgia's state government, behind only the governor.

Georgia House Rep. Ron Stephens, a Republican who represents House District 164 and is the chairman of the Chatham legislative delegation, said he cannot think of a better candidate for the role than Burns.

“There is nobody else qualified to work with both sides,” said Stephens. “When you are speaker of the House, you are speaker of the whole House, not just your party. He is not extremely partisan and I think that might be his best quality. So it is the next logical step for him to be speaker of the House. You've got to have a willingness to work with folks who don't think necessarily like you do.”

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Stephens also pointed to Burns’ ability to handle the state budget and his time as majority leader, which has made him a fixture in the house.

“He got his colors - proven colors as majority leader,” said Stephens. “Ever since Republicans took over, Jon has always been one of the three conferees that have their pulse on the budget - the final budget.”

According to the AJC, Burns has a challenger in Barry Fleming, an attorney from Augusta who was just elected as the state rep for House District 125. Fleming entered the House in 2003 and has represented House Districts 79, 117 and 121 since taking office.

According to Stephens, Fleming was the whip when Republicans were the minority and said his career as an attorney has been helpful in providing clarity on certain bills.

“Barry has been very knowledgeable as far as maneuvering bills and basically getting the caucus to go along with major issues and usually there's one or two a year. His strength is in his former whip position,” Stephens said of Fleming.

Georgia House Rep. Bill Hitchens, a Republican who represents the district that neighbors Burns's district, grew up with Burns’ older brother. The two later formed a friendship that has spanned four decades.

He has a solid relationship with Fleming too, as he was his seatmate in the House.

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“Barry and I are friends, so I’m kind of in the middle of this one,” said Hitchens. “Barry has been in leadership in the past and he is a well-respected lawyer.”

Hitchens said in all the years he has served as a legislator, Ralston was the fairest leader he's ever worked with. He thinks Burns can follow in Ralston's footsteps, citing how he worked alongside Ralston and learned the art of bipartisanship.

“Every time I've ever heard him speak, he always talks about what he thinks is best for Georgia,” said Hitchens.

Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Jon Burns becomes candidate to replace Ralston as Georgia Speaker