Georgia governor candidate discusses how his Columbus roots inform his platform
Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves (D-District 35 in metro Atlanta), who owns The Flying Biscuit in Highside Market in his hometown of Columbus, plans to use what he has learned about challenges facing the Columbus community to inform his policies and decisions as he runs for governor.
Esteves, 41, announced last month that he plans to run for governor in the 2026 election.
“We have the opportunity to elect a new governor and to focus our attention on investing in our families and investing in our dreams,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Esteves, who lives in Atlanta, visits Columbus every one to two weeks, he said. These visits are not just to check on operations at The Flying Biscuit.
“I still have a large family that lives in Columbus,” Esteves said.
After attending South Columbus Elementary School and Eddy Middle School,Esteves attended Columbus High School for his first two years before graduating from high school in Orlando, Florida.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Miami in 2005 and a law degree from Emory University in 2010.
Estevez is a partner at the Maryland-based law firm Hudson Cook LLP, where he has worked since 2023, according to his LinkedIn page. He is a former teacher, having been a Teach for America corps member teaching social studies at Fonville Middle School in the Houston Independent School District. Esteves also served on the Atlanta Board of Education from 2014-22.
Esteves and his wife, Ariel, own The Flying Biscuit locations in Columbus and Macon.
He spoke with the Ledger-Enquirer about how he would tackle some of the challenges facing Muscogee County if he were elected governor. Some of these challenges include public safety, support for small businesses and healthcare.
Small businesses
After growing up in south Columbus, Esteves has seen firsthand the growth and challenges of the city, he said.
“When I was a kid, you didn’t really go to downtown Columbus,” Esteves said. “In fact, you’d avoid it at all costs. But because of the efforts of leaders, the community and with (Columbus State University) development early on, we’ve seen a complete revitalization of downtown Columbus.”
Downtown Atlanta and downtown Columbus are examples of how small businesses are the key to growing communities, he said.
As part of his campaign platform, Esteves aims to help small business owners have more access to capital through low-interest loans and to provide tax deductions and tax credits that support individuals investing in local communities, he said.
“A lot of those small business owners that open restaurants, hotels and everything else in downtown are taking a risk,” Esteves said. “They wanted to do something good for themselves, but most importantly, they wanted to do something good for Columbus.”
Public safety and poverty
When he visits his family in Columbus, Esteves said, one of the big issues he sees facing the city is how to keep the community safe.
This includes keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and young people, he said, and ensuring weapons stay off the streets and out of the schools.
“What I plan on doing as governor is doing what we can to pass responsible gun ownership laws,” Esteves said. “And also reduce crime by tackling root causes around crime, which really deals with poverty.”
Esteves would focus much of his time on bringing down the cost of housing if elected governor, he said, which he knows is an issue in Columbus. His goal is to ensure people have access to “ high-quality, affordable housing.”
He’d He also would prioritize investment in education, particularly vocational training and technical schools. This would help people find good-paying jobs, provide for their families and open opportunities for their kids, he said.
Access to healthcare
Ensuring everyone has access to healthcare is another strategy Esteves believes would help reduce poverty and crime.
“There are a few things we need to be doing,” he said. “And the first thing is making sure that we have a good mix of options that are accessible to everyone.”
This would be accomplished by making sure people have access to Medicaid through an expanded program, he said. But Esteves also wants to be sure that individuals who earn too much money for Medicaid have access to a health plan through the state’s Affordable Health Care Act plan, which is called Georgia Access.
“There are things that we can be doing to help subsidize some of the costs associated with Georgia Access so that we can ensure people are getting the health insurance they need,” Esteves said.
It will be important to help people get into good-paying jobs that provide private insurance, he said.
Another healthcare concern Esteves wants to address is ensuring residents have access to good senior care.
There are limited options for working families who don’t have access to long-term care insurance or enough money to pay for assisted living facilities or nursing homes, he said.
Too many senior citizens are forced to go bankrupt trying to pay for care, Esteves said.
“It’s a problem all across the state,” he said. “And with our seniors being the largest demographic in the state, we have to do what we can to make sure that they’re able to grow old with the love, the dignity and the respect that they’ve earned over their life.”
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and East Point Methodist Rev. Olu Brown are the other Democratic candidates for governor. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is the only announced candidate for governor on the Republican side.
The general election will be held Nov. 3, 2026.
“The concerns I’ve seen in Columbus are similar to what I’m seeing across Georgia, which is, ultimately, people want to keep and grow the hard-earned money in their pockets,” Esteves said.
