Michelle is a second generation Chinese-American who grew up in New York City and received a strong public-school education. She graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Michelle also holds a Master’s in Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Michelle lives in Johns Creek, Atlanta, with her husband and three children.

Michelle is an anesthesiologist and equity partner at Physician Specialists in Anesthesia in Atlanta, where she has practiced for more than ten years. She is certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology. Additionally, she has completed residency training in both pediatrics and anesthesiology at Columbia University. 

Michelle was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2020 representing District 48. In 2022, she was elected to the State House after the incumbent Representative announced retirement. She serves on the House committees for Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight, Public Health, and Special Rules, co-chairs the bi-partisan General Assembly Working Group on Addiction and Recovery, and chairs the bi-partisan General Assembly AAPI Caucus.

Candidate website

Supports small business growth, fair taxation, affordable healthcare, and workforce training. Advocates for Georgia Earned Income Tax Credit, tax code modernization, higher tobacco taxes, and ending special interest tax breaks to relieve the working class.

Believes rising living costs harm Georgia families; plans to fight for economic prosperity, having already worked to reduce healthcare expenses, suspend gas taxes, and secure tax cuts for workers in the State Senate.

- Supports small business growth, fair taxation, affordable healthcare, and workforce training. Advocates for Georgia Earned Income Tax Credit, tax code modernization, higher tobacco taxes, and ending special interest tax breaks to relieve the working class.
- Believes rising living costs harm Georgia families; plans to fight for economic prosperity, having already worked to reduce healthcare expenses, suspend gas taxes, and secure tax cuts for workers in the State Senate.

Economy

As of March 19, 2024, Michelle Au’s website did not contain information on this issue.

Energy & the Environment

The candidate's website says, "Representative Beth Moore (D – Peachtree Corners) is hosting a live, interactive legislative update... Dr. Michelle Au will be joining as a special guest to give perspective from the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis."

Said, "Join me to improve the health and well-being of ALL Georgians and deliver results to improve the quality of life for the residents of Johns Creek."

The candidate's website says, "A conversation with Senator Michelle Au and Columbia Law Professor Jamal Green about public health, individual rights, and the constitutionality of vaccine mandates."

The candidate's website says, "A webinar with Senator Michelle Au and Columbia Public Health Professor Dr. Michael Sparer covering the brief history of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act as we work toward a healthier future in Georgia."

The candidate's website says, "There’s a Proven Public Health Strategy We Could Use to Encourage Vaccination"

The candidate's website says, "That’s what Democratic state Sen. Michelle Au, a physician from Johns Creek, found out as she was helping vaccinate people in Norcross for the health department on a recent weekend."

The candidate's website says, "As the mother of three young children, Dr. Au was understandably concerned that she could be putting her family at risk by bringing home the virus."

The candidate's website says, "What distinguished this public health campaign was its visceral intimacy... The gaping orifice of his stoma—the breathing hole in his trachea surgically created after his larynx was removed—gapes at the viewer, the rim ragged with radiation scarring..."

Said, "Diminishing clinically excellent, compassionate care to my patients was never an option, so I continue to practice... I take pains to separate my family from anything that has been exposed to the hospital environment and we do exercise an additional degree of separation from casual, close social contact even in everyday life, out of a surfeit of caution.”"

The candidate's website says, "Created in 1996, GRITS was initially designed to ensure children statewide were benefiting from federal vaccination programs by tracking immunizations... It was built for 'more of a trickle than a flood,' says Schmitdke, and was so infrequently used to track adult vaccinations that most internists had no clue how to use it."

The candidate's website says, "The Georgia Department of Public Health is working to get COVID-19 vaccines in the arms of eligible Georgians, but employees there do not get a break from the work they had before the pandemic."

The candidate's website says, "Yet in a press conference last month, Gov. Brian Kemp, while acknowledging the importance of statewide vaccination, seemed to have all but given up on any further efforts to reach the eligible Georgians who remain unprotected."

Said, "Beyond providing medical care to patients, we are community leaders... We are educators, using our decades of scientific training and clinical experience to break down complex concepts... We are scholars, keeping abreast of rapidly changing research and best practices... And we are role models, showing, rather than telling what those best practices should be..."

The candidate's website says, "Join Michelle Au, MD, MPH and her colleagues... for a thoughtful discussion on the current state of racial injustice in the healthcare system... as well as ways we can get involved in meaningful policy reforms."

The candidate's website says, "October 15, 2020 Atlanta – Governor Brian Kemp and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma ... signed on healthcare reform at the Georgia State Capitol on Thursday, October 15, 2020. The federal government approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to reshape Medicaid and individual insurance in Georgia under the Affordable Care Act, the governor and a top Trump administration health official announced on Thursday. ..."

Supports reducing prescription costs, enhancing medical leave, patient protections, equal coverage for mental health, and opposes ER claim denials. Plans to expand Medicaid, boosting hospital funds, job creation, and lowering healthcare expenses for Georgia's state, taxpayers, and consumers.

Supports women's reproductive rights, opposes six-week abortion ban, plans to restore healthcare decisions to women, following Roe v. Wade reversal.

The candidate's website says, "Dr. Au was also the only Senator who substantively blocked bans of medication abortion pills at the Capitol, ensuring this critical resource will continue to be available for millions of Georgia women... Dr. Au is the only pro-choice physician in the General Assembly."

Blocked "bans of medication abortion pills at the Capitol, ensuring this critical resource will continue to be available for millions of Georgia women...is the only pro-choice physician in the General Assembly."

Supports anti-tobacco initiatives; launched "Tips From Former Smokers" in 2012 to deter smoking through real-life testimonials, aiming to reduce smoking rates and prevent initiation.

Said, "Taking care of people is my life’s work. The well-being and health of our community will always be my focus... As I have proven throughout my Senate record, my medical career... I will listen to and advocate tenaciously for the best interests of all those I represent."

- Supports reducing prescription costs, enhancing medical leave, patient protections, equal coverage for mental health, and opposes ER claim denials. Plans to expand Medicaid, boosting hospital funds, job creation, and lowering healthcare expenses for Georgia's state, taxpayers, and consumers.
- Supports women's reproductive rights, opposes six-week abortion ban, plans to restore healthcare decisions to women, following Roe v. Wade reversal.
- Blocked "bans of medication abortion pills at the Capitol, ensuring this critical resource will continue to be available for millions of Georgia women...is the only pro-choice physician in the General Assembly."
- Supports anti-tobacco initiatives; launched "Tips From Former Smokers" in 2012 to deter smoking through real-life testimonials, aiming to reduce smoking rates and prevent initiation.
- Said, "Taking care of people is my life’s work. The well-being and health of our community will always be my focus... As I have proven throughout my Senate record, my medical career... I will listen to and advocate tenaciously for the best interests of all those I represent."

Healthcare

The candidate's website says, "For more than four decades, the Smyrna grandmother voted for Republicans... In November, she plans to cast her ballot for Democrat Joe Biden..."

The candidate's website says, "Elections are Determined by Who Shows Up."

The candidate's website says, "Recently approved maps redrawing lines for legislative districts have pushed a first-term Democratic state senator ... to attempt to switch chambers after her seat was drawn in a way that drastically changed its racial and partisan makeup."

The candidate's website says, "Opinion: Georgia Republicans were quiet about their attack on voting rights, but, oh, did they laugh"

The candidate's website says, "Georgia Republicans were quiet about their attack on voting rights, but, oh, did they laugh"

Said, "I ask for your vote and support of my re-election as your State Representative so we can continue to work together to make Georgia a healthier, safer, and more inclusive state, where everyone’s voices can be heard."

The candidate's website says, "The future House map gives Democrats a new advantage in six seats of the 180-member House, while the Senate map draws at least one new Democratic seat in the 56-seat chamber... An AJC analysis predicts a 13-seat GOP advantage in the House and an 11-seat margin in the Senate."

The candidate's website says, "Bullock is the UGA political science professor who is the state’s leading expert on redistricting... He’s called past maps examples of parties in power shooting themselves in at least one foot, and sometimes two..."

The candidate's website says, "...the state was still counting ballots on Thursday... after a chaotic primary voting day that foreshadows potential problems with November’s general election."

The candidate's website says, "The reality at hand is the 2020 Census, which showed 1 million new Georgia residents in the last 10 years, and a population that is significantly more diverse, better educated and older than it had been."

The candidate's website says, "State Sen. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, announced that after seeing the changes the Republican-dominated General Assembly made to her district during reapportionment, she will now campaign for a seat in the state House."

The candidate's website says, "The Georgia General Assembly completed its once-in-a-decade process of redistricting in 2021, and Senate District 48 was the sole Senate district targeted purposefully by the Republican majority party."

Opposes the bill, viewing it as an attack on voting rights, citing restrictions on mobile polling, drop boxes, absentee ballot rules, and interference with voter mobilization efforts.

Believes that despite significant campaign spending, voter turnout is low due to barriers that disproportionately affect voters of color and low-income individuals, undermining the sacred right to vote and the state's fundamental promise.

Supports expanding voting rights, co-sponsoring bills for same-day and automatic registration, increasing polling places, and opposing laws that create voting barriers; committed to ongoing legislative efforts to protect and enhance voting access.

Opposes Georgia Senate Bill 202, viewing it as a voter-suppression effort designed to prevent high Democratic turnout as seen in recent elections.

- Opposes the bill, viewing it as an attack on voting rights, citing restrictions on mobile polling, drop boxes, absentee ballot rules, and interference with voter mobilization efforts.
- Believes that despite significant campaign spending, voter turnout is low due to barriers that disproportionately affect voters of color and low-income individuals, undermining the sacred right to vote and the state's fundamental promise.
- Supports expanding voting rights, co-sponsoring bills for same-day and automatic registration, increasing polling places, and opposing laws that create voting barriers; committed to ongoing legislative efforts to protect and enhance voting access.
- Opposes Georgia Senate Bill 202, viewing it as a voter-suppression effort designed to prevent high Democratic turnout as seen in recent elections.

Voting & Elections

The candidate's website says, "Since the beginning of the pandemic, people of Asian descent have been blamed for coronavirus, and harassed and assaulted as a result... In Texas, a man allegedly stabbed three members of an Asian American family, including children ages 2 and 6... A medical student was assaulted near her hospital in New York City... In Boston, a doctor taking care of covid-19 patients was followed as she left the hospital by someone who shouted profanities... According to the nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate, more than 6,600 anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander incidents have been reported between March 2020 and March 2021."

The candidate's website says, "The measures would require a five-day waiting period for gun purchases. They will also be next-to-impossible to enact this year."

The candidate's website says, "ATLANTA — Three new gun control bills in the Georgia legislature are a direct result of the killings of eight people last week at three spas in metro Atlanta."

The candidate's website says, "About two dozen bills have been floating around the General Assembly this year that would either curb or expand gun rights. Not a single one of them has gotten a vote in the House or Senate."

The candidate's website says, "Robert Aaron Long, 21, told police that the attacks Tuesday at two spas in Atlanta and another massage business near suburban Woodstock... Authorities said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation but were still investigating his motive."

The candidate's website says, "On Tuesday, there were a series of shootings at massage spas in and around Atlanta ... The shootings have not been ruled a hate crime, with police citing suspect Robert Aaron Long’s statement that he was motivated instead by a sexual addiction."

The candidate's website says, "There’s skepticism of that explanation and public clamoring for hate crime charges, especially among the Asian American community, which has faced rising numbers of attacks since the coronavirus pandemic took hold."

The candidate's website says, "The murder case against a white man charged with shooting and killing ... at Atlanta-area massage businesses this week could become the first big test for Georgia’s new hate crimes law."

The candidate's website says, "Georgia state Sen. Michelle Au has long been concerned about the safety of Asian Americans here in Georgia, so much so she went before her fellow lawmakers to speak about it Monday."

The candidate's website says, "But, like many states, the Georgia law enacted last summer does not provide for a standalone hate crime, instead allowing an additional penalty when a person is convicted of another crime."

The candidate's website says, "Georgia bill that loosens gun laws a ‘slap in the face’ after mass shooting, says senator"

The candidate's website says, "New Georgia bills proposed following spa shootings would create waiting period for gun purchases"

The candidate's website says, "The murder case against a white man accused of shooting and killing six women of Asian descent and two other people at Atlanta-area massage businesses could become the first big test for Georgia’s new hate crimes law."

Said, "A man menaced him on the street, blamed him for the virus, and continued threatening him even when police arrived on the scene."

The candidate's website says, "Democratic Senator Michelle Au says Bill 218 increases the number of guns in circulation in her state"

The candidate's website says, "President Donald Trump fanned the flames with his repeated use of 'China virus,' 'Chinese plague' and 'kung flu.'... Research has found that the proliferation of these terms over social media directly led to a rise in racist posts against Asian people... increased rhetoric... could provoke more acts of harm against AAPI communities."

Said, "I was especially concerned because my mother, an immigrant in her 70s born in Hong Kong, takes the T to work in Boston’s Chinatown every day. She has continued to do so throughout the pandemic."

The candidate's website says, "Sabrina Mao of Marietta is firmly in the opposite direction. To her, the protests that erupted during the social justice movement prove that Democrats have no “moral grounding.”"

The candidate's website says, "Op-Ed: Fight the gun violence epidemic like we fight cancer — one small step at a time"

Supports enacting gun safety measures like universal background checks, waiting periods, and safe storage laws; aims to reduce gun violence to protect communities and first responders; recognized by Everytown for Gun Safety for legislative efforts.

Supports enhancing neighborhood safety by fostering trust between families, communities, and first responders, funding mental health services, and providing resources and training for police to effectively combat crime; authored/co-sponsored bills for public safety in the State Senate.

The candidate's website says, "Dr. Au also knows that we must address crime at its core before enforcement is every necessary... Dr. Au supports investing in deterrence services in high-risk communities to stop crime before it happens... In addressing the root causes for most crime, including mental health issues and poverty, our families will be made safer and more secure."

Supports "investing in deterrence services in high-risk communities to stop crime before it happens... In addressing the root causes for most crime, including mental health issues and poverty, our families will be made safer and more secure."

- Supports enacting gun safety measures like universal background checks, waiting periods, and safe storage laws; aims to reduce gun violence to protect communities and first responders; recognized by Everytown for Gun Safety for legislative efforts.
- Supports enhancing neighborhood safety by fostering trust between families, communities, and first responders, funding mental health services, and providing resources and training for police to effectively combat crime; authored/co-sponsored bills for public safety in the State Senate.
- Supports "investing in deterrence services in high-risk communities to stop crime before it happens... In addressing the root causes for most crime, including mental health issues and poverty, our families will be made safer and more secure."

Public Safety

The candidate's website says, "President Biden’s call for universal pre-K in his American Families Plan... Universal pre-K — that is to say, broad access to quality preschool education — is the norm in most wealthy nations."

Supports protecting teachers and students' well-being, opposes campus carry and state interference in curricula, wants to end divisive parent-teacher policies, and advocates for positive school environments, mental health resources, and safer school infrastructure.

Believes in equitable education for all Georgia students, supports full funding for PreK-12, opposes vouchers, and advocates for resources and fair compensation for educators to address the achievement gap.

The candidate's website says, "Investments in early childhood programs not only improve outcomes for the children who participate but for Georgia and the nation as a whole, says Au."

Believes "Investments in early childhood programs not only improve outcomes for the children who participate but for Georgia and the nation as a whole, says Au."

- Supports protecting teachers and students' well-being, opposes campus carry and state interference in curricula, wants to end divisive parent-teacher policies, and advocates for positive school environments, mental health resources, and safer school infrastructure.
- Believes in equitable education for all Georgia students, supports full funding for PreK-12, opposes vouchers, and advocates for resources and fair compensation for educators to address the achievement gap.
- Believes "Investments in early childhood programs not only improve outcomes for the children who participate but for Georgia and the nation as a whole, says Au."

Education

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Michelle Au

- Your state representative represents the interests of your local district in the Georgia State House of Representatives.
- Your state representative can author, sponsor, and vote on bills that may become state laws. All bills dealing with the state budget originate in the Georgia House of Representatives.
- The State House of Representatives, along with the State Senate, makes up our state lawmaking body: the Georgia General Assembly.
- There are 180 members of the Georgia House of Representatives, each representing a single district.
- State Representatives are elected to two-year terms. They are paid a yearly salary of $17,342. They only serve in the role part-time.