# Rick Townsend

Rick Townsend is a Republican member of the Georgia House for district 179.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Georgia House, district 179
- Serving since: 2023-01-09
- Current term: GA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/1da20ad9-1a05-42ab-addb-7fbf295a0e5d

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/1da20ad9-1a05-42ab-addb-7fbf295a0e5d (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

50% of the 78 bills Townsend sponsored got out of committee, in the bottom tenth of the Georgia House.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.45 (standard error 0.04), from 168 donors and 530 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 67% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (GA 2025–26 session)

1,391 roll calls. Attendance 99.7% (Georgia House 93.5%). Party unity 99.1% (97.2%). 6 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-06-23 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-23 · voted yea · PASSAGE · SB 3 Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB3/
- 2026-06-23 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-23 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-22 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 61 Twiggs County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB61/
- 2026-06-22 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-22 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-20 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-20 · voted yea · Local Calendar · HB 61 Twiggs County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB61/
- 2026-04-03 · voted yea · House Vote #880 - 2025-2026 Regular Session · HB 1409 Domestic relations; revise mandated reporting of child abuse · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1409/

## Legislation (GA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 78 bills: 55 reached committee, 39 passed one chamber, 17 passed both, 13 became law. Cosponsored 0. 50.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Georgia House 65.7%; rank 160 of 177).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 12: Brunswick, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption (passed one chamber, 2026-06-22) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB12/
- HB 11: Glynn County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption (passed one chamber, 2026-06-22) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB11/
- HR 1771: Goodman, Patricia; receipt of a Lifetime Achievement Award; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-18) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1771/
- HR 1747: House Study Committee on Restoring Georgia's Salt-Water Ecosystems; create (introduced, 2026-03-19) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1747/
- HR 1665: House Study Committee on Environmental Protection Division Permit and Variance Procedures and Rights to Review; create (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1665/
- HB 1445: Juvenile proceedings; authorize sharing of GPS monitoring with law enforcement and school districts (in committee, 2026-03-04) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1445/
- HB 1429: Courts; juvenile court clerks collect and submit data regarding monetary sanctions assessed for juvenile offenders to the Administrative Office of the Courts;… (in committee, 2026-03-03) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1429/
- HR 1427: Congress; pass Thiokol Memorial Gold Medical Act; urge (introduced, 2026-02-25) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1427/
- HR 1420: Harrell, Anthony Trey; honoring the life and memory; condolences (passed one chamber, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1420/
- HR 1378: Donor Day at the state capitol; February 20, 2026; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1378/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $57.2K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 98% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house/5055?session=1031
- Campaign site: https://www.townsendforgeorgia.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TownsendForGeorgia/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/townsendforgeorgia/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rick-townsend-082a1a6a/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/1da20ad9-1a05-42ab-addb-7fbf295a0e5d