New east Cobb representative brings small business background to Capitol

Dec. 1—Solomon Adesanya believes in the American dream.

The 37-year-old entrepreneur and second-generation American, one of Cobb County's new state legislators, has lived it himself. Adesanya's father came to the U.S. as a student in 1971.

Raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and Chicago, Adesanya is now an east Cobb resident and the proud owner of two restaurants.

"He had the belief in the American dream," Adesanya said of his father. "Growing up, one of the things he always told me was that I can achieve anything that I set my heart and mind to. ... That's the promise of America, where you can come and work hard, and you believe in it, you believe in a dream and you work toward that."

Gold Dome-bound

Adesanya, a Democrat, was elected to represent state House District 43 in the Nov. 8 election, defeating Republican Anna Tillman. He will take office in January, succeeding Republican Sharon Cooper, who has served 26 years under the Gold Dome.

The district includes parts of east Marietta and east Cobb. Over the past few election cycles it had grown, like Cobb and Georgia as a whole, increasingly competitive.

State legislators redrew the state's legislative districts after the 2020 census, with the new maps effective for this year's election. Under the new lines, District 43 is roughly 60% Democratic and 40% Republican, according to a Princeton University analysis.

This year, Cooper instead ran in the redder 45th District, and won.

Adesanya won the Democratic primary election in May with 56.5% of the vote, defeating Benjamin Stahl.

In the general election, he won with 56% (10,614 votes) to Tillman's 44% (8,293 votes).

Luisa Wakeman is an east Cobb resident who was the Democratic nominee in House District 43 in 2018 and 2020, under the old lines. In her last attempt to unseat Cooper, she came up short by just 476 votes, less than two percentage points.

When District 43 was redistricted and made bluer, Wakeman was drawn out. But she talked with Adesanya before he entered the 2022 race, and volunteered for his campaign. She described him as a hard worker.

"He ran a campaign that was so actively involving the community, he knocked on so many doors, talked to so many people," she said.

Tillman, despite coming up short, outraised Adesanya during the campaign. As of the final disclosure deadline, Tillman had brought in more than $32,800 to date, while Adesanya reported raising about $20,150.

Adesanya spent most of his campaign funds on typical expenses such as signs, mailers and other literature, but also spent a few hundred dollars to pay Raynard Johnson, an Atlanta campaign consultant.

In the campaign, Adesanya loaned himself $6,000. Another major contributor was Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams' political organization, which donated $3,000.

Adesanya said it was volunteers and traditional door-to-door campaigning that got him elected. Money and fundraising, he said, was never the focus.

"That sort of support, it is humbling, and I am grateful for that. But ultimately, we didn't focus on money, to be honest with you," he said.

He believes he can work with and appeal to people from both parties, and said he met voters on the campaign trail who, despite traditionally voting Republican, supported him.

"I am blessed that I also get ... calls from those who tell me that they historically voted Republican, but they want to vote for me. And some of them even helped volunteer and requested yard signs," Adesanya said.

Issues

Health care is at the top of Adesanya's priorities. He supports expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, a long sought after goal of Georgia Democrats, which he said would improve health care outcomes and create jobs.

"When I was knocking on doors, I talked to so many people who were struggling with health issues," Wakeman said. "... A woman who couldn't afford her medications, an elderly couple who had lost their business and their home because of extraordinary medical events. And it shouldn't be that way."

The state's Republican leadership has declined to fully expand Medicaid, but Georgia is moving forward to implement a limited expansion, which includes a work requirement, that the legislature passed back in 2019. That Republican plan had received pushback from the Biden administration, but a judge ruled in August that it could move forward.

"There is no logical reason," not to fully expand Medicaid under the ACA, Adesanya said, "considering that 90% of the funds come from the federal government, and 10% is what the state has to account for."

The representative-elect criticized politicians who brag about the state's multi-billion dollar budget surplus, saying "it really does no one any good having the money sitting somewhere, and we have so many people asking for health coverage."

As a father of two, Adesanya said he also wants to work to improve public education, which he believes produces positive knock-on effects for the economy and public safety.

The state's quality basic education (QBE) formula, he believes, should be reformed to divert more resources to low-income students.

While Cobb is home to some of the state's best public schools, Adesanya wants "to make sure that our schools are thriving, not just in east Cobb (but) across Georgia."

He also is concerned that there are attempts to prevent teachers from teaching certain books, or the history of the U.S.

"I want to look at that closely," he said. "Because, I mean, our history is our history. I think we have to be able to talk about it. ... We have to have an inclusive space for every kid to thrive."

As an entrepreneur, Adesanya believes small business is the heart of the community. He's personally struggled with economic forces such as the pandemic and the tight labor market of recent years, and said he wants the state to do what it can to support small business owners.

"I think small businesses should be able to get some assistance from the government to keep the business running, some grants, and some low interest on loans," he said.

Michael Owens, a former chair of the Cobb Democratic Party, knew Adesanya from when the representative-elect volunteered for other campaigns, and said he's "someone who's been on the ground, willing to have conversations with people and really understand ... the essence of serving people."

Adesanya will be an effective legislator for small businesses, Owens said.

"The best representatives we have are those whose priorities are based on their life experiences," Owens said.

Local businessman

Adesanya is the proprietor of two locations of Kale Me Crazy, a health food chain. One store is at the Avenue East Cobb on Roswell Road, the other off Atlanta Road in Smyrna.

Kale Me Crazy was founded in Georgia in 2013. Adesanya is one of several franchisees. The chain has 25 restaurants — 16 of them in Georgia.

He got into the restaurant business two years ago, and now employs 19 people across the two stores.

"I hope to continue to grow my community and hopefully create more business within the neighborhood, where people can make a living, people can get jobs and work and take care of their families," Adesanya said.

Cooking has always been a passion for Adesanya, and he liked Kale Me Crazy's organic, health-focused menu.

Prior to becoming a restaurant owner, he worked a corporate job as a business analyst. He also started a small logistics company, Peachcobb Logistics, in 2015, hauling construction materials to and from work sites.

"The challenge though, was balancing corporate work, and then having time for your business. It was an uphill battle," Adesanya said.

Adesanya studied logistics and earned a bachelor's degree in Nigeria, later earning a master's of public policy from Georgia State University.

He has a wife, Ashleigh, and two daughters. Ashleigh Adesanya is an accountant. His daughters are Joi, 2, and Grace, 7, the latter of whom is a student at Brumby Elementary.

Owens believes the representative-elect will work as hard under the Gold Dome as he does in his career.

"His willingness to serve and help, in conjunction with the determination and grit I've seen in him through his businesses, I have no doubt that he's going to be a fantastic legislator under the Gold Dome."

Adesanya said constituents can reach him at info@solomonforgeorgia.com.

"I want to listen to you, this is about you," he said of the public. "This is not about me, and it will never be about me. And that's how we ran our campaign from the beginning."