| Senator Steve Gooch, a Republican, has served in the
Georgia State Senate since 2010. He represents Senate
District 51, which includes Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer,
Lumpkin, Pickens and Union counties, as well as a
portion of White County. Sen. Gooch was elected as the Majority Leader of the
Senate Majority Caucus in 2022. Prior to serving as the
Senate Majority Leader, Senator Gooch served as the
Senate Majority Whip and chair of the Senate
Transportation Committee. Currently, Sen. Gooch serves as a member of the Senate Committees on Administrative Affairs, Appropriations,
Finance, Reapportionment and Redistricting, Regulated Industries and Utilities, and Transportation. He also
serves as an Ex-Officio on the Senate Committees on Ethics, Insurance and Labor, Judiciary, and Rules. Sen. Gooch has long been a champion on issues such as transportation and infrastructure. He has worked to
provide public-private partnership opportunities to state and local agencies creating more affordable
mechanisms to decrease the taxpayer burden for projects. Sen. Gooch also led the efforts to expand
connectivity throughout all of Georgia for broadband expansion and small-cell wireless broadband
deployment that has led to hundreds of millions of federal and state funds for rural broadband connectivity.
Sen. Gooch has been recognized for his tremendous leadership and effectiveness as a legislator. He has been
chosen by Georgia Trend as one of the Top 100 Influential Georgians nine years running and was selected as a
Georgia Chamber Legislator of the Year in 2015 following his efforts to pass the transformational
Transportation Funding Act of 2015. Sen. Gooch then won the same award in 2024. Sen. Gooch currently owns a private environmental services company and is a former Georgia Department of
Transportation Board Member. Prior to being elected to the Georgia State Senate, he served as the sole
Lumpkin County Commissioner.
Sen. Gooch graduated from North Georgia College and State University, now the University of North Georgia,
where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and Master's Degree in Public
Administration.
Sen. Gooch currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Mike Cottrell College of Business at the University of
North Georgia and has been a Rotarian since 1989. He and his wife Shannon have three children- Samuel, Seth,
and Sawyer. |