Representative John Yates
Chairman Defense & Veterans Affairs
HD 73 (R - Griffin)
Born and raised on a farm in Spalding County, Georgia during the “Great Depression”, Representative Yates claims they didn’t know they were poverty stricken until the government told them. He walked 3 miles to school for four years and later graduated from Spalding High School in 1938. Years later while working he completed a BBA degree at Georgia State University during 6 years of evening school.
He is the last WWII veteran in the legislature. He and 3 of his 4 brothers served in WWII; 2 were prisoners of war and one was hospitalized, but they all came back home at the war’s end. Representative Yates entered the Army as a Private and 3 ˝ years later was a Captain.
His military service included extensive service during the Battle of the Bulge, noted as the greatest battle of the war. As a Liaison Pilot of a Piper Cub airplane, he adjusted artillery fire on the enemy. While flying over 200 missions near or over enemy lines, he was awarded 6 air medals and 4 battle stars.
After the war Yates joined Ford Motor Company as a biller and during the last third of his 35 year career, he was Manager of the Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center.
Representative Yates was actually the first Republican candidate for the House ever elected in Spalding County. He began serving in 1989, was defeated in the next election, but won in a landslide victory the following term and has been in office ever since. When asked what drew him into politics, he replied that in his years of traveling with Ford Motor Company, Georgia seemed to be the only state that he’d ever lived in that lacked a strong two party system. He found that the representative in his area was not responsive to voters so he simply ran against him and won.
His long service to the state and military experience worked to Representative Yates’ appointment as the Chairman of the Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee. He has always been a strong supporter of America and the military. Chairman Yates is a member of the Voice of Veterans, an organization that speaks to children about patriotism. He also holds membership in the Appropriations, Higher Education, Reapportionment and Motor Vehicles Committees. His most important achievement has been enhancing education by gaining budget support for teaching at the Griffin Campus-UGA and similar support for Griffin Technical College.
As Chairman of Defense & Veterans Affairs Committee, he has worked tirelessly to help veterans, service men and women and their spouses.
The Representative and his wife have 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He and Annie live on a 60-acre farm in Griffin with a gorgeous 2 ˝ acre lake, a photograph of which is proudly displayed in his office. Even with the hurriedness that comes with the job of being a legislator, Chairman Yates makes sure that he personally answers every single card, letter and email that he receives, even if it is to every single member of an elementary school class. He believes in keeping the government simple and making it more user-friendly. He also is committed to making sure that people know what he is doing, for he feels that they have the right to know. All in all, Representative John Yates believes in being a representative.