COVID Test Dodging Gwinnett State Rep Won't Seek Re-Election

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — A Georgia representative who made national headlines for being kicked out of the House chamber when he refused a COVID-19 test announced Tuesday he won’t seek re-election in his Gwinnett County district.

“It has always been my personal belief that politics is not meant to be a career,” Republican Rep. David Clark of Buford posted Tuesday to Facebook. “Therefore, after much prayer, I have decided that I will not be seeking re-election next year.”

Clark has represented Georgia House District 98 since 2015, when Republicans named him to replace Michael Brown, who won in the primary but died before the general election. Clark succeeded his brother Josh, who had served the previous term and then stepped down to pursue a business opportunity.

Clark is popular in his home district, where he received 59 percent of the vote in the last general election. However, he’s not quite as popular with fellow house Republicans, who voted 90-2 to keep David Ralston as House Speaker when Clark ran against him in 2020.

In January, Clark drew the attention of national media when Ralston had a state trooper escort him out of the house chamber for refusing to be tested for COVID-19.

After Clark was removed, Ralston said “I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been to too many funerals — and I’m tired of going to them.” The Washington Post reported that other lawmakers responded with applause.

Later, Clark compared what had happened to him to how Black lawmakers were expelled from the chamber after the Civil War for their skin color. Clark eventually was tested for COVID-19 and returned to the House a few days later.

Given Clark’s contentious relationship with Ralston and other house Republicans, Clark may well be drawn out of his district later this year, according to political reporter Greg Bluestein of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

When the Atlanta newspaper asked for comment on Clark’s departure, Ralston’s spokesman answered by saying “Who?”