Tenure
Esteves served on multiple Georgia State Senate Committees including the Children and Families Committee,the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee,the Finance Committee,the State and Local Governmental Affairs Committee,and the Ethics Committee. [22]
In 2024,the Georgia Senate Democratic Caucus elected Esteves to serve as the vice chair of finance for their caucus. [23]
He resigned on September 10,2025,in order to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. [24]
Education
Esteves supported increased funding for public schools [25] and authored legislation to establish health savings accounts for Georgia government employees. [26]
In a 2021 op-ed,Esteves supported a transition to zero-emission electric school busses. [27] [28] Esteves has also advocated for supporting and strengthening special education programs. [29] He is a critic of Georgia's school voucher program. [30]
Abortion
Esteves supports legal access to abortion. In 2023,he sponsored legislation to repeal Georgia House Bill 481,the so-called "heartbeat" bill passed in 2019. This bill outlaws most abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. [29]
Healthcare
Esteves supports Medicaid expansion. [31] In a 2025 op-ed in the Ledger-Enquirer, Esteves argued for a bill he introduced that would allow Medicare to cover expenses for assisted living and care facilities. [32]
Housing
In 2025,Esteves proposed legislation that would stop private equity firms from being allowed to purchase houses. [33] [34] [29]
Buckhead cityhood
In 2023,Esteves opposed the effort to let the Atlanta neighborhood,Buckhead,secede from the city of Atlanta,claiming the proposed breakaway measures were "at best half-baked plans that would endanger the livelihoods of all Georgians,especially [his] Buckhead constituents." [35]
In 2025,Humberto Garcia-Sjogrim,a co-founder of the movement to block Buckhead cityhood,endorsed Esteves's candidacy for governor. [36]
Other political positions
In 2022 Esteves supported a nonpartisan commission for redistricting. [31] In the same year,he opposed allowing the concealed carry of firearms without a license. [31] In a 2022 letter that he wrote,Esteves endorsed the expansion of the U.S. Supreme Court. [37]
In 2023,Esteves introduced a bill to require governmental agencies to redact personal identifying information from public records about public officials. [38] [39]
In 2024,in a hearing on AI,he said that the legislature must support AI while also protecting people from its repercussions. [40] In a letter that same year,Esteves urged President Joe Biden to extend work visas to long-term migrants. [41]
In 2025,Esteves proposed replacing the statue of Confederate leader Alexander Stephens in the U.S. Capitol with former President Jimmy Carter,citing his legacy of human rights and public service. [42] Also in 2025,Esteves introduced a resolution honoring the International Franchise Association and its former president Doc Cohen for boosting economic growth and making contributions to communities coast to coast. [43] Also in 2025,Esteves co-sponsored a bipartisan bill that declared children being unsupervised is not child neglect and those decisions should be left to the parent. [44]
