The GA Files

State Level Legislator Fact Sheet · Georgia State Senate · District 53

Colton Moore

Party Republican
In Office 2023 – 2026 (resigned)
Senate Role Former member · resigned to run for U.S. House
Scope of This Review 2023 – 2026

Colton Moore, a Trenton Republican, represented Senate District 53 in Georgia's northwest corner from 2023 until January 2026, when he resigned to run for the U.S. House seat in the 14th District vacated by Marjorie Taylor Greene. One of the chamber's most combative members, he was removed from the Senate Republican caucus in 2023 after publicly attacking colleagues over his demand for a special session to defund Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis. His record set him apart on the populist right — he voted against the business-backed tort-reform bill and against the IVF-protection bill. (Republican Lanny Thomas won the special election to succeed him; the 2026 votes fell after the seat went vacant.)

5 / 7Moore broke right of his own caucus on several votes below — a NO on tort reform (SB 68) and a NO on the IVF-protection bill (HB 428) — before resigning in January 2026 to run for Congress.

Methodology. Each vote is Sen. Moore's actual position from the official Georgia roll call (legis.ga.gov), transcribed into a verified vote database and cross-checked against the published Yea/Nay totals. The chamber tally and final status (became law / died in House) are noted per bill.

01

Riley Gaines Act

SB 1 · 2025 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2025 session — 34–20
Status
Became law (2025 session)
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted YEA — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Bars transgender women and girls from competing on female school and college sports teams and requires K–12 and college sports, locker rooms, and restrooms to be designated by sex assigned at birth. Supporters framed it as protecting fairness and safety in women's sports; opponents — including LGBTQ advocates and some parents — said it stigmatizes transgender students and invites invasive enforcement.

Sources

02

Tort Reform

SB 68 · 2025 Session
NAY
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2025 session — 34–21
Status
Became law — Gov. Kemp's signature 2025 priority
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted NAY — against the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. Moore broke with the business wing of his party to vote NO on tort reform.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Overhauled Georgia's civil-litigation rules — limiting when businesses and property owners can be sued (notably for negligent-security claims), changing how juries are told about medical damages, and allowing trials to be split into liability and damages phases. Backers said it would lower insurance costs and curb runaway verdicts; trial lawyers and consumer advocates warned it makes it harder for injured Georgians to recover full damages.

Sources

03

Religious Freedom Restoration Act

SB 36 · 2025 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 32–23
Status
Became law (2025 session)
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted YEA — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Georgia's Religious Freedom Restoration Act bars state and local government from “substantially burdening” a person's exercise of religion without a compelling interest. Supporters called it a long-sought protection mirroring the 1993 federal law; opponents — including civil-rights groups and some businesses — warned it could be used to justify discrimination, particularly against LGBTQ Georgians, since the state has no statewide anti-discrimination law.

Sources

04

Gender-Affirming Care Ban (Minors)

SB 140 · 2023 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2023 session — 31–21
Status
Became law (2023 session)
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted YEA — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Prohibits hormone therapy and surgical gender-affirming care for transgender minors in Georgia, with limited exceptions. Supporters said it shields children from irreversible decisions; major medical associations and families of transgender youth opposed it, arguing it overrides parents and doctors and strips away evidence-based care.

Sources

05

Gender-Affirming Care Funding Ban

SB 39 · 2025 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Motion to Immediately Transmit), 2025 session — 32–18
Status
Passed the Senate; died in the House (2025 session) — did not become law
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted YEA — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Would have barred the use of state funds — including the State Health Benefit Plan and Medicaid — to pay for gender-affirming care for state employees and prisoners. It cleared the Senate but died in the House. Supporters said taxpayers should not fund the care; opponents said it singles out transgender state workers and inmates for denial of medically recognized treatment.

Sources

06

Right to IVF

HB 428 · 2025 Session
NAY
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Passage by Substitute), 2025 session — 53–1
Status
Became law (2025 session)
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted NAY — against the chamber majority, on a bipartisan vote. Moore was among the few to vote NO on the IVF-protection bill.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Establishes a state right to access in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and protects providers — one of the rare bipartisan votes in this set. It followed national alarm after an Alabama court ruling threatened IVF, and aimed to reassure Georgia families pursuing fertility treatment that the procedure would remain legal and available.

Sources

07

State Income Tax Cut

HB 111 · 2025 Session
YEA
Floor Vote
Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 30–23
Status
Became law (2025 session)
Sen. Moore's Vote
Voted YEA — with the chamber majority, on a party-line vote.

Impact on Everyday Georgians

Accelerated Georgia's move to a lower flat income tax, cutting the rate ahead of schedule (to 5.19%). Supporters said it returns surplus money to taxpayers; critics cautioned that flat-rate cuts deliver the largest dollar benefits to higher earners and reduce the revenue available for schools, health care, and public services.

Sources

Constituent Access

Town Halls

Public meetings with constituents · 2023–2026

Moore cultivated a national grassroots following through rallies and conservative media rather than traditional district town halls.

Documented Record

  • No recurring open constituent town-hall series of the conventional kind is documented for Moore. He built his profile through grassroots rallies, social media, and national conservative media — including his high-profile push for a special session to investigate and defund the Fulton County district attorney.
  • Moore resigned the Senate seat in January 2026 to run for the U.S. House (Georgia's 14th District); Republican Lanny Thomas won the special election to succeed him.

State legislators' constituent-event records are thin and locally reported; this section reflects his time in office. Corrections are welcome via the contact link below.

Sources

Campaign Finance

Campaign Finance

Who funded Sen. Moore · recent cycles

Pinned — Right of His Own Party

Removed from the GOP caucus

Moore was kicked out of the Senate Republican caucus in 2023 after attacking fellow Republicans over his demand for a special session to defund the Fulton DA. A Marjorie Taylor Greene ally, he voted against tort reform and against IVF protection, then resigned in 2026 to run for her old congressional seat. His state-committee itemized donor data is thin; he has built a small-dollar, anti-establishment fundraising base.

Top Contributors

Colton Moore’s largest reported contributors, pulled live from the Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile).

#ContributorTotal
1Civil Justice PAC (Atlanta, GA)$3,000.00
2Crattie, Bart (Lockout Mountain, GA)$2,000.00
3Gurtler, Matt (Tiger, GA)$1,333.47
4Carpenter, Kay (Marietta, GA)$1,200.00
5PCI Gaming Authority (Atmore, AL)$1,000.00
6Cooper, Lance (Marietta, GA)$1,000.00
7Cromartie, Hendrick L. (Rome, GA)$1,000.00
8Dickinson, Curtis (Woodstock, GA)$1,000.00
9Ebersbach, John (Newnan, GA)$1,000.00
10Conley Griggs Partin LLP (Atlanta, GA)$1,000.00

$338,495 raised · $0 cash on hand — as of Apr 30, 2026 (GA Ethics latest filing).

Source: Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission (PeachFile).

Sources

Accountability

Scandals

Reported controversies, charges & ethics matters · past decade

June 2025Ethics — campaign finance

Fined for late and missing campaign and financial-disclosure filings

Consent order — $500 fine

In a June 2025 consent order with the State Ethics Commission, Moore admitted failing to file a January 2025 campaign-finance report and his 2022 and 2023 personal financial disclosures, and paid a $500 fine — part of an audit-driven sweep of legislators' filings.

Sources
January 2025Conduct — arrest at the Capitol

Arrested trying to enter the House chamber after being banned

Removed by police; ban later rescinded

After House leaders banned him from their chamber over remarks about the late Speaker David Ralston, Moore was arrested while attempting to enter during Gov. Kemp's State of the State address and was removed by police. The Speaker later rescinded the ban.

Sources
September 2023Political — caucus suspension

Suspended from the Senate Republican Caucus

Indefinitely suspended from caucus

The Senate Republican Caucus indefinitely suspended Moore after he attacked fellow Republicans while pushing for a special session to investigate and defund Fulton DA Fani Willis over the Trump indictment. The caucus said Moore had “knowingly misled people” and put colleagues “at risk of personal harm.”

Sources

Each item is drawn from published reporting or official records, with sources listed. Where a matter was dismissed, settled, withdrawn, or remains pending, that disposition is noted; allegations are identified as such, and inclusion does not imply a finding of guilt. Corrections are welcome via the contact link below.

Verification Resources

Vote positions are Sen. Moore's actual recorded votes from the official Georgia roll calls (legis.ga.gov), transcribed into a verified vote database and cross-checked against the published Yea/Nay totals. Campaign-finance figures are pulled live from the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission (PeachFile) and are current to the committee's most recent filed disclosure report; Georgia does not produce OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups.

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