Houston businessman Larry Walker III to run for Tolleson’s state Senate seat

ATLANTA -- Houston County businessman Larry Walker III will take his second shot at elected office this year. Wednesday morning he announced a run for the state Senate.

“I have been encouraged to run for this seat by people all over the district because they believe I am the right leader to effectively represent this district,” Walker said in a written statement on Wednesday morning, a day after state Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, announced his retirement from the state Legislature.

Walker lives in Kathleen and owns Walker Insurance Agency in Perry.

In a special election for a Houston County state House of Representatives seat this year, Walker ran on a platform of supporting Robins Air Force Base and making sure Georgia is a good place to do business. In that August runoff, Walker took 43 percent of the vote to Shaw Blackmon’s 57 percent.

The Senate election will see him court a much larger group of voters. Georgia Senate District 20 covers most of Houston County plus all of Bleckley, Laurens and Pulaski counties.

The state will set the special election date in the coming weeks. The winner will serve out the roughly one year remaining in Tolleson’s term.

To contact writer Maggie Lee, email mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Houston businessman Larry Walker III to run for Tolleson’s state Senate seat ."