Jason Esteves: Where the candidate for Georgia governor stands on the issues

Jason Esteves served two terms in the state Senate representing a district covering parts of Atlanta and Cobb County. The Atlanta Democrat is running for his party’s nomination for governor.

Here are his stances and record on key issues.

Affordability

Esteves calls the rising cost of living the “greatest challenge facing Georgia families right now.”

His affordability proposals include universal childcare, tuition-free technical college and needs-based scholarships.

Esteves says Georgia Lottery reserves should be used to expand pre-K to all 3- and 4-year-olds by the end of his first term.

Then, when children graduate high school, Esteves says they need training for jobs that pay well. He says students can get that education by making technical college tuition-free.

He says he wants to find more state funding for scholarships based on financial need, which would help lower-income students afford housing, food, transportation and textbooks.

Esteves says he would pay for these programs, in part, by ending tax breaks for large out-of-state companies.

Taxes

Esteves says Georgia should eliminate sales taxes on necessities such as diapers, baby formula and menstrual products.

Meanwhile, he wants to eliminate tax cuts enjoyed by big companies and the rich, including the owners of data centers. Esteves says out-of-state corporations and billionaires received $2.5 billion in tax breaks from Georgia’s state government in 2025 alone.

Esteves proposes ending tax discounts for new data center construction, requiring data centers to pay a larger share of the cost of adding power capacity, and mandating data centers to adopt water conservation technologies such as closed-loop cooling systems.

Esteves says he will reinvest money saved by eliminating “wasteful handouts” into reducing the cost of living for working families.

As a state senator, Esteves sponsored a bill that lowered older adults’ property taxes by exempting $100,000 of their property value from city of Atlanta school taxes. It passed in 2024, which Esteves says saves these residents up to $1,000 a year.

Immigration

Esteves says he would ensure police are focused on preventing and prosecuting violent crime rather than on immigration enforcement.

He says governors have to take responsibility for upholding the law and protecting their constituents after the Trump administration “weaponized” the U.S. Immigration and Enforcement agency against U.S. citizens. Immigration agents killed two Americans during confrontations in Minnesota in January.

Esteves says he will support communities such as the city of Social Circle. Concerned about the impact of a large planned immigrant detention center on local water lines and sewers, city leaders blocked access to water meters at the property because the Trump administration didn’t respond to their concerns. ICE recently put the plan on hold.

Esteves says he’d use his platform as governor to urge Congress to pass immigration laws that include a pathway to citizenship for young people who were brought to the United States as children.

Healthcare

Esteves’ healthcare proposals start with Democrats’ longtime goal of expanding Medicaid, the state and federal healthcare plan for the poor and disabled.

But expanding Medicaid would require approval from the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Esteves says he would work with legislators to bring coverage to hundreds of thousands of Georgians who lack health insurance.

He could face an uphill battle in the General Assembly, where Republicans — who largely oppose Medicaid expansion — control both the House and Senate.

Georgia is one of 10 states that has decided against a full-scale expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, which would provide 90% federal funding for health insurance coverage to lower-income adults who still earn too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid.

Esteves says he’s committed to keeping both rural and urban hospitals open, saying they’re essential for reducing maternal mortality. He says Medicaid expansion would reduce the number of uninsured patients, which would ease costs on hospitals. He also wants to require insurance companies to pay timely reimbursements to hospitals.

Housing

Esteves says he’ll oppose corporate landlords who have bought up hundreds of single-family homes in some markets, contributing to higher property costs and neighborhood blight.

Esteves wants to ban private-equity firms from buying single-family homes. A similar effort failed at the General Assembly this year.

The state Senate approved a bill that would have allowed lawsuits against companies that own more than 500 single-family rental homes, but the House didn’t move forward with the legislation after the housing industry raised concerns it would be unconstitutional. Last year, a separate bill proposed a 2,000-home cap for institutional investors.

Esteves says another solution is to give local governments money and tools to build more housing. He suggests increasing access to state grants and financing tools.

He says he would expand workforce housing tax credits, down payment assistance, and incentives for starter homes, smaller homes and mixed-income developments.

If he’s elected, Esteves says he would expand eviction prevention assistance, invest in homeless prevention programs and hold landlords accountable for unsafe housing conditions.