# Jason Esteves (GA Senate D-35) — Legislator Fact Sheet · The GA Files > Jason Esteves (D, Senate District 35 — Fulton/Cobb), who resigned in 2025 to run for governor: his votes, constituent access, and donors — a state-level legislator fact sheet. *Source: https://thegafiles.com/JasonEsteves.html · The GA Files (thegafiles.com)* --- State Level Legislator Fact Sheet · Georgia State Senate · District 35 # Jason Esteves Party Democrat In Office 2023 – 2025 (resigned) Senate Role Former member · 2026 candidate for Governor Scope of This Review 2023 – 2025 Jason Esteves, an attorney and former chair of the Atlanta school board, represented Senate District 35 across parts of Fulton and Cobb counties from 2023 until 2025, when he resigned to campaign full-time for Governor in 2026. Democrat Jaha Howard won the 2025 special election to succeed him. The record below reflects his tenure; the late-session 2026 votes fell after his seat went vacant and are not attributed to him. (The 2019 and 2023 votes at this seat belonged to its prior holder and are not shown.) 1 / 6During his tenure Esteves voted **NO on the Republican priorities** below and **YEA only on the IVF-protection bill**. He resigned in 2025 to run for Governor. **Methodology.** Each vote is Sen. Esteves'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 NAY Floor Vote Senate vote (Agree to House Substitute), 2025 session — 34–20 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Esteves' Vote Voted **NAY** — against 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 - [LegiScan — SB 1 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB1/2025) 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. Esteves' Vote Voted **NAY** — against the chamber majority, on a party-line vote. ### 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 - [LegiScan — SB 68 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB68/2025) 03 ## Religious Freedom Restoration Act SB 36 · 2025 Session NAY Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 32–23 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Esteves' Vote Voted **NAY** — against 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 - [LegiScan — SB 36 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB36/2025) 04 ## Gender-Affirming Care Funding Ban SB 39 · 2025 Session NAY 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. Esteves' Vote Voted **NAY** — against 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 - [LegiScan — SB 39 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB39/2025) 05 ## Right to IVF HB 428 · 2025 Session YEA Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage by Substitute), 2025 session — 53–1 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Esteves' Vote Voted **YEA** — with the chamber majority, on a bipartisan vote. ### 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 - [LegiScan — HB 428 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB428/2025) 06 ## State Income Tax Cut HB 111 · 2025 Session NAY Floor Vote Senate vote (Passage), 2025 session — 30–23 Status Became law (2025 session) Sen. Esteves' Vote Voted **NAY** — against 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 - [LegiScan — HB 111 bill text, history & roll calls](https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB111/2025) Constituent Access ## Town Halls Public meetings with constituents · 2023–2025 Esteves engaged constituents through his Senate office and the Atlanta-delegation circuit before stepping down for his statewide run. ## Documented Record - No recurring solo town-hall series during his Senate tenure is documented in local press. Esteves worked through the Atlanta-delegation circuit and his prior Atlanta school-board network. - Esteves resigned the Senate seat in 2025 to run for Governor; as a statewide candidate he now appears widely at forums and campaign events across Georgia. 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 - [FOX 5 Atlanta — Esteves resigns to run for governor](https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/jason-esteves-resigns-senate-seat-run-georgia-governor) - [Jason Esteves — Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Jason_Esteves) Campaign Finance ## Campaign Finance Who funded Sen. Esteves · recent cycles Pinned — Resigned to Run for Governor Business & infrastructure PACs Esteves's reported Senate donors were business-establishment PACs — road builders, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, hospitals. He left the seat in 2025 to run for Governor; the heavyweight money of that statewide campaign runs through a separate committee not shown here. ## Top Contributors Esteves's largest reported contributors from the Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile). | # | Contributor | Total | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Competitive Georgia Action Inc. (Griffin, GA) | $3,300.00 | | 2 | NGP (Washington, DC) | $2,418.19 | | 3 | Georgia Highway Contractors Association & Georgia Asphalt Pavement Association PAC (Alpharetta, GA) | $1,500.00 | | 4 | Friends of Teri Anulewicz (Smyrna, GA 30080, GA) | $1,000.00 | | 5 | Metro Atlanta Chamber Political Action Committee (Atlanta, GA) | $1,000.00 | | 6 | Gas South PAC Inc. (Atlanta, GA) | $1,000.00 | | 7 | UPSPAC (Atlanta, GA) | $1,000.00 | | 8 | Committee of Automobile Retail Dealers of Georgia (Atlanta, GA) | $500.00 | | 9 | GHA PAC (Atlanta, GA) | $500.00 | **$659,242** raised · **$845** cash on hand — as of **May 7, 2026** (GA Ethics latest filing). Source: the Georgia Ethics Commission (Georgia campaign-finance filings). His Senate committee, not the separate Governor campaign committee. Georgia does not produce OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups, and the Georgia Ethics Commission holds the official itemized filings. ## Sources - [Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile) — campaign finance](https://peachfile.ethics.ga.gov) - [Georgia Ethics Commission — official filings](https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/Campaign/Campaign_ReportLog.aspx) - [OpenSecrets — Georgia state](https://www.opensecrets.org/states/GA) ## Verification Resources - [Georgia General Assembly — Senate roll-call votes](https://www.legis.ga.gov/votes/senate) - [Jason Esteves — Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Jason_Esteves) - [Open States — Georgia legislators & votes](https://openstates.org/ga/legislators/) - [Georgia Ethics Commission — campaign finance](https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/Campaign/Campaign_ReportLog.aspx) Vote positions are Sen. Esteves'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. [← All Legislators](https://thegafiles.com/legislators.html)