Harrell ran for the 40th district seat in the Georgia State Senate in the 2018 election. Harrell defeated incumbent Fran Millar.

Harrell explored running in the 2017 special election to represent Georgia’s 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives but ultimately decided not to file for the seat.

Harrell was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1998. In the Georgia House, she served on the Education, Human Relations & Aging, Children & Youth and Appropriations Committees (Health Sub-Committee). Harrell chose not to seek re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2004 due to redistricting issues. The maps passed by the Georgia legislature in 2001 were thrown out and redrawn by the Court, blind of incumbent’s addresses. Her district changed so massively geographically that she decided not to seek re-election.

Sally Roettger Harrell (born March 5, 1966) is an American politician from the state of Georgia. She is a Democrat and member of the Georgia Senate since 2019. She previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1999 through 2005.

Harrell was on born March 5, 1966, in Indianapolis, Indiana. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia. Harrell lives in Chamblee, Georgia, with her husband Jay and their two children.