In 2003, Valencia Martin Seay became the first African-American elected to represent Clayton and Fayette Counties in the Georgia Senate, where she is presently a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Senate Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, the Senate Transportation Committee, and the Senate State Institutions and Property Committee. During her first term in the Georgia House of Representatives, in 2001, Seay authored and passed a bill allowing all voting age students to register to vote at school, and the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus named her “Freshman Legislator of the Year”. Recently, the Georgia Informer listed Seay as one of “Georgia’s 50 Most Influential Black Women In 2004”.

Seay served eight years on the Clayton County Board of Education. In 1995, she served as Vice Chair of the Board. She established the Annual Voter Registration Day Program in Clayton County High Schools, which each year registers thousands of students. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Atlanta Project have recognized Seay for her dedication to education.

Seay is a lifetime member of the Clayton County Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women, and the Clayton County NAACP, which recognized her with the Pioneer Award and the Leadership in Education Award. She is also a member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, National Organization for Women Legislators, Women in Government, Georgia Women’s Legislative Caucus, Georgia Association Black Elected Officials (GABEO), and the Georgia Democratic Women’s Caucus.

Seay has been a resident of Clayton County for more than 20 years, and she and her family are members of Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta.

The District: West Clayton and North Fayette counties.