# Lanny Thomas (GA Senate D-53) — Legislator Fact Sheet · The GA Files

> Sen. Lanny Thomas (R, Senate District 53 — northwest Georgia), a longtime educator and former Trion mayor who won an April 2026 special election: his record, constituent access, and campaign money.

*Source: https://thegafiles.com/LannyThomas.html · The GA Files (thegafiles.com)*

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

# Lanny Thomas

Party
Republican

In Office
Apr 2026 – present

Senate Role
Member · Catoosa/Chattooga/Dade/Walker/Floyd

Scope of This Review
2026

Lanny Thomas, a Chattooga County Republican, represents Senate District 53 — Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties and part of Floyd County. A longtime educator and former mayor of Trion, he graduated from LaFayette High School and holds a bachelor's in education from the University of West Georgia and a master's and education specialist degree from Jacksonville State University. He won the April 7, 2026 special-election runoff with nearly 69% over Democrat Jack Zibluk after Sen. Colton Moore resigned to run for Congress, and took office April 23. He serves on Banking and Financial Institutions, Higher Education, Natural Resources and the Environment, and Transportation, and ex officio on Education and Youth and State and Local Governmental Operations. He is the Republican nominee this November, again facing Zibluk.

—Thomas was sworn in **after the 2026 session adjourned** on April 2, so he has **no recorded votes** yet on the bills tracked here. He was in office for the June 17–23, 2026 special session, whose votes are not among the bills tracked here.

**Methodology.** Each vote is Sen. Thomas'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.

Constituent Access

## Town Halls

Public meetings with constituents · since April 2026

Thomas took office in April 2026, during the legislative interim.

## Documented Record

- On **May 1, 2026** he announced his committee assignments: “I am honored to serve Northwest Georgia through these committee assignments.” His Senate office lists a public phone line (404-657-7716) and email for constituents.

- As a candidate he emphasized small businesses, public safety, local schools, infrastructure, rural health-care access, agriculture and veterans’ services.

- No recurring open-constituent town-hall series of his own is documented in local press or on his campaign site as of September 2026. This section will be expanded as events are documented.

Lanny Thomas took office in April 2026; state legislators' constituent-event records are thin and locally reported. Corrections are welcome via the contact link below.

## Sources

- [Georgia Senate Press Office — Sen. Lanny Thomas announces appointments to Senate committees](https://senatepress.net/sen-lanny-thomas-announces-appointments-to-senate-committees.html)

- [Northwest Georgia News — Lanny Thomas wins Georgia Senate District 53 race](https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/catoosa_walker_news/news/lanny-thomas-wins-georgia-senate-district-53-race/article_5b4adf97-6dbc-4d81-814d-6f972351775e.html)

Campaign Finance

## Campaign Finance

Who funds Sen. Thomas · 2026

## Top Contributors

Committee: Committee to Elect Lanny Thomas to State Senate. **$74,346.06 raised**, $50,684 spent, **$23,662.06 cash on hand**. Several of his largest donors are fellow Senate Republicans' campaign committees and the Senate GOP caucus committee.

| # | Contributor | Total |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Marty Harbin (Tyrone, GA) | $5,123.06 |
| 2 | Larry Walker for State Senate (Kathleen, GA — Senate President Pro Tem's committee) | $4,500.00 |
| 3 | John F. Kennedy for Georgia (Macon, GA) | $3,300.00 |
| 4 | Georgia Republican Senatorial Committee (Roswell, GA) | $3,300.00 |
| 5 | Committee to Elect Jason Anavitarte (Atlanta, GA) | $3,300.00 |
| 6 | Calvin Norton (Ringgold, GA) | $3,000.00 |
| 7 | Seth Millican (Marietta, GA) | $2,500.00 |
| 8 | Dickerson for Georgia, Inc. (Canton, GA — Sen. Jason Dickerson's committee) | $2,500.00 |

Source: The GA Files' tally of primary Georgia Ethics Commission (PeachFile) records, cycle-to-date as of September 14, 2026. Donor rows come from the commission's top-contributor summary. Corrections are welcome.

## Sources

- [Transparency USA — Georgia campaign finance](https://www.transparencyusa.org/ga)

- [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)

- [Wikipedia — Lanny Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanny_Thomas)

- [Georgia Ethics Commission — PeachFile (2026 campaign finance)](https://peachfile.ethics.ga.gov/)

Vote positions are Sen. Thomas'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 top reported contributors via Transparency USA; Georgia does not produce OpenSecrets-style sector/industry rollups, and the Georgia Ethics Commission holds the official itemized filings.

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