Miss Fort Eisenhower USA enters Miss Georgia USA competition
GROVETOWN, Ga. (WJBF) – The Miss Georgia USA Competition is coming up in just a few weeks, and one of the contestants is from our area.
Frances Floresca-Baldwin was named Miss Fort Eisenhower USA in December, but she’s competing for Miss Georgia USA in her first year of doing pageants.
“A few years ago, I was involved with this program. This lady, she told me, ‘You need to start doing pageants! You’re confident, you’re pretty, and you’re talented.’ So I was like, well I don’t know, I’m about to get married and everything,” Floresca-Baldwin said. “But then, the next year after I got married, they announced that they were starting to let married women and mothers compete in the Miss USA system. Then I said, okay, I guess this is my shot to do this.”
“I actually have friends who have done pageants for years, and I would go to their pageants around the country. So, I more or less know what’s going on in the pageant world,” said Floresca-Baldwin.
While she’s familiar with pageant world, she’s also familiar with being a military wife.
Her husband, Alec, has been serving in the Army for the last decade, and is currently deployed overseas.
The couple met in Washington, D.C., moved to Las Vegas in 2022, and moved to the CSRA in October 2023–two months before she was awarded her title.
“We knew early on in our marriage that it wouldn’t be easy for us, and it’s just taught me how to be more resilient and be more involved in my community,” she said.
But involved is an understatement.
Frances volunteers at Fort Eisenhower, works in public policy and Journalism as a freelancer nationwide, all while taking care of a 1-year-old boy.
“When I was in Washington D.C. I got to visit Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff–who’s a big advocate for protecting military families–as well as the local representative here, congressional member Rick Allen, who has been able to oversee a lot of what’s going on at Fort Eisenhower, and everyone within our congressional district,” said Floresca-Baldwin.
One of the ideas she brought to Senator Ossoff and his staff was improving learning for students in the military community.
“Solutions such as better mental health resources for our children, and another part of my platform is expanding school choice for those children as well,” she said. “They move around so much, and sometimes the school on base doesn’t necessarily work for them. So just expanding those opportunities throughout the community so they can access them better is always going to be helpful for those military families.”
Floresca-Baldwin says she hopes people can learn from her journey that motherhood is not the end of one chapter, but the beginning of a new one.
“Just because you’re a mother, doesn’t mean your life is over. Honestly, I’ve seen my life truly just begin after having my child. I’ve been so much more active not just in his life, but the life of my husband, and even my career in public policy and Journalism. I just get to find ways to balance everything I do, and as a freelancer in my area I get to have more of a voice.”
This year’s Miss Georgia USA competition will be at the Henry County Performing Arts Center in McDonough, Georgia, from June 13th-15th.
Floresca-Baldwin says she is beyond excited for the opportunity, and would love supporters from the CSRA.
To purchase tickets for the competition, click here.
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