Democratic state Rep. Bob Bryant dies at Savannah hospital

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) Georgia lawmakers from both parties Thursday mourned the death of state Rep. Bob Bryant, who represented the Savannah area for 12 years as a member of the state House.

``He served quietly, he served with dignity and he served the way he lived with a kind and gentle spirit,'' Speaker David Ralston said on the House floor in Atlanta as several lawmakers rose to offer memories in tribute to Bryant. ``When he left us early today, he took part of the best that we have here.''

Bryant, 71, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Candler Hospital in Savannah on Wednesday. Hospital spokesman Scott Larson confirmed Thursday morning that Bryant had died overnight.

A Democrat from neighboring Garden City, Bryant won election to the House in 2004. He was a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which plays a key role in writing the state budget.

Rep. Calvin Smyre, a Columbus Democrat who is the House's longest-serving member, called Bryant ``one of the most principled and least political people I've ever met.''

``If he wasn't going in your direction, you weren't going to take him in that direction,'' Smyre said. ``But if he gave you his word, you could go to sleep at night.''

Ralston noted that Bryant had crossed party lines to support his candidacy for speaker in 2010, the year Ralston first won the chamber's top position. He said he later asked Bryant why he, a black Democrat, would support a white Republican from a different region of the state.

``Bob looked at me very earnestly and said, `Because you are my friend,''' Ralston said.

Before running for office, Bryant served 20 years in the Army that included two years overseas in Vietnam. He was also retired Savannah municipal worker who spent more than a decade as a city maintenance supervisor and sanitation superintendent.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who served in the Legislature before he was elected to Congress in 2014, noted the first bill he ever passed was co-sponsored by Bryant.

``He was a politician who truly made a difference for the people he represented,'' said Carter, who served with Bryant in Chatham County's legislative delegation.