The late Georgia Speaker Ralston has been honored with a portrait at the entrance of the Capitol, where he presided.

The portrait of the late Speaker David Ralston, who unexpectedly passed away at the end of 2022 after leading the chamber for more than ten years, will soon greet lawmakers on their way to the House. The painting was officially unveiled on Thursday at the House chamber during a ceremony attended by two former governors - Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal, as well as the current governor, Brian Kemp.

"Speaker Ralston has had a generational impact on our state,"

- said House Speaker John Burns. "Now I can say that today is especially special, as three gentlemen who led this state and were friends of Speaker Ralston are here to help us pay our respects. But I believe that a person's worth is defined by relationships of this kind, and, more importantly, by the presence of these relationships and the sorrow for us, the least protected."

Speaker John Burns said,

His predecessor, the late Speaker of the House David Ralston, had a "generational impact" on Georgia. In the last session, Ralston invested his political resources in a historic mental health bill that helped energize the movement to address Georgia's healthcare disparities.

Portrait of Ralston

It was created by Gainesville artist Travis Massey and commissioned by the University of North Georgia, where Ralston received his degree. It will hang to the right of the main entrance, creating a contrast with the portrait of former Speaker of the House Thomas Murphy on the other side of the door.

In the Senate, lawmakers

They honored the memory of Ralston with a resolution calling for the University of North Georgia and the University System of Georgia to name a new academic building in Blue Ridge in his honor. However, this tribute in the Senate took a different turn when Senator Colton Moore from North Georgia seized the moment to criticize Ralston for his use of legislative leave while serving as Speaker. Moore had already been expelled from the Republican caucus in the Senate and is now banned from entering the House chambers. After Moore's speech, which was interrupted by Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who stated that Thursday was neither the time nor the place for such remarks, the Speaker took the rare step of banning Moore from entering the House where he once served.