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Esteves Elected to Georgia State Senate

By Robert Green Atlanta Trend
  • Nov 27, 2022

Jason Esteves has been elected to the Georgia State Senate in District 6. Esteves won the race against Republican Fred Glass with 56.55% of the vote.District 6 includes Dobbins Air Base, Vinings, and parts of Marietta, Sandy Springs and Buckhead.

 

Previously, Esteves served as an at-large representative and the outgoing Board Chair on the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. In 2013, he became the first Latino elected to a school board in Georgia and has focused his efforts on promoting equity and improving the financial outlook of the school system. In November 2021, Jason was re-elected to his third term on the Board with 62% of the vote. 

 

Under Jason’s leadership, APS has attained its highest graduation rate to date (83.1%), provided over $100 million in staff pay increases and stipends, and increased APS’s fund balance to its highest levels while providing more money directly to school sites. Jason helped ensure that APS stepped up to address the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic--APS distributed hundreds of thousands of meals to families and provided every student with a laptop and, if needed, an internet hotspot. APS followed scientific guidance on masks, testing, and school re-opening despite pressure from Governor Kemp.

 

Jason also worked with his colleagues to tackle controversial issues. In his first year as Board Chair (2018), the Board adopted an Equity Policy and Anti-Racism Resolution that eventually led to the creation of the Center for Equity and Social Justice. He oversaw the process of renaming buildings with hurtful legacies. And he created an LGBTQ+ Task Force that recommended policy changes and additional support for LGBTQ+ students and staff in the district.

 

Jason serves as Vice President at Equifax Inc., where he leads the handling of regulatory matters, risk mitigation, and sensitive disputes and investigations for the company. He was a litigation associate at the law firm of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP (now Dentons US LLP) after graduating from Emory University School of Law. 

He serves as Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia and is on the boards of several local non-profit organizations, including GALEO and the Children's Museum of Atlanta. He is an alumnus of LEAD Atlanta (2012), Leadership Georgia (2015), and Outstanding Atlanta (2020), and is in the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2022. 

 

Jason is married to Ariel, a graduate of Kennesaw State University and Emory University’s School of Nursing graduate program. Jason met Ariel while he attended Emory Law School. Ariel is the founder of WestsideMed, an urgent and primary care clinic in their neighborhood. Ariel is also Director of Clinical Operations at CareSource and is a board member of Planned Parenthood Southeast and the Soaring Owls Foundation (a neighborhood school foundation).


Jason and Ariel are proud parents of Jaeden (6) and Zoe (3), and reside in northwest Atlanta.