| Senator Steve Gooch was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2010. Senator Gooch is a Republican representing the 51st district, which includes Fannin, Union, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Dawson, and Pickens counties and a portion of White County. Senator 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 Transportation, Finance, Appropriations, Regulated Industries and Utilities, and Reapportionment and Redistricting. He also serves as an Ex-Officio on the Senate Committees on Rules, Insurance and Labor, Natural Resources and the Environment, Education and Youth, Ethics, Veterans, Military, and Homeland Security, and Judiciary. Senator 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. Senator 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. Senator 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 six 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. Senator 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. Senator 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. Senator 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. |