Stephen Gooch (born February 25, 1967) is an American politician. He is a member and former majority leader of the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

from the 51st District, serving as a senator since 2010 and as the majority leader from 2023 to 2025. He is a member of the Republican Party. In 2014, the Georgia Senate elected Gooch as the majority whip, and was reelected in 2016 and 2018. Gooch was elected to serve as the majority leader in 2022. On May 15, 2025, Gooch announced his candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor in the 2026 election. He announced he would model his candidacy after U.S. President Donald Trump.

Policy and legislation

In January 2024, Gooch co-sponsored S.B.390, which would withhold government funding for any Georgia libraries affiliated with the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. The bill was drafted following the election of ALA President

Emily Drabinski Emily Drabinski (born June 16, 1975) is an American academic, librarian, author, and teacher who served as List of presidents of the American Library Association, president of the American Library Association from July 2023 to July 2024. Early li ...

and allegations of the organization promoting a personal ideology and influencing librarian certification.

References

1967 births 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly Living people People from Dahlonega, Georgia Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub