RJ Hadley is a Democratic Party activist and former candidate for United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 in Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. He was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention

2008 Democratic National Convention

The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...

. He has been a member of the Rockdale County Democratic Party since 2006 and was elected to its executive board in 2010.

Hadley is a graduate of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

. He has worked in the public sector as juvenile justice social worker for the State of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. He has also held software technology positions in the United States and abroad with the Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

, Motorola

Motorola

Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...

, and Logica. In 2009, he was appointed Chief of Staff for Rockdale County

Rockdale County, Georgia

Rockdale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 70,111. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 82,052. Two years later, the population was 84,569. The county seat is Conyers.-Geography:...

. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Affordable Housing CDC, a non-profit housing and economic development organization.

In 2010, Hadley sought the Democratic Party's nomination for Senate in Georgia, losing to Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond

Mike Thurmond

Michael L. "Mike" Thurmond is the former Commissioner of Labor for the state of Georgia and was the Democratic Party's nominee for United States Senate in 2010....

. On January 29, 2011, he was elected Vice-Chair of County Parties with the Democratic Party of Georgia

Democratic Party of Georgia

The Democratic Party of Georgia is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is affiliated with the United States Democratic Party.-Leadership:...

.

Personal life

He is married to noted bird veterinarian Dr. Tarah Hadley of the Atlanta Hospital for Birds and Exotics. They met at Dartmouth

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, have 5 children, and live in Conyers, Georgia

Conyers, Georgia

Conyers is the only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, USA. It is twenty-four miles east of Atlanta. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,689. Census estimates of 2005 indicate a population of 12,205. The city is the county seat of Rockdale County. By 2009, the reported population was...

.

Political Activism

Hadley was among the first group of volunteers for the Barack Obama presidential campaign

Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008

Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008, he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...

 when an Obama campaign office opened in Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 in 2007. He went on to volunteer for the Obama campaign throughout Georgia, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. In 2008, he was chosen by the Obama campaign to serve as an At-Large delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

. He was also the campaign manager for Richard Oden who became Rockdale County’s first African-American Chairman in 2009.

2010 U.S. Senate campaign

In 2009, Hadley announced his campaign to seek the Democratic Party of Georgia’s nomination for United States Senate to replace Johnny Isakson, a Republican. For nearly a year he ran unopposed until Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond entered the race in the last week of qualifying. In the primary election held on July 20, 2010, Hadley garnered 15.7% of the popular vote.