# Esther Panitch

Esther Panitch is a Democratic member of the Georgia House for district 51.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Georgia House, district 51
- Serving since: 2023-01-09
- Current term: GA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/bdc621be-7296-4383-8c45-b4533d1c106c

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/bdc621be-7296-4383-8c45-b4533d1c106c (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Panitch voted against the majority of Georgia House Democrats 35 times; party unity 91.5%, in the bottom 5% of the Georgia House (average 97.2%).

## What Panitch says (GA 2025–26 session)

1,734 classified statements: 1,734 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Panitch | State House Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.6% | 2.5% | 183 of 764 |
| Policy criticism | 1.0% | 10.4% | 647 of 764 |
| Policy discussion | 5.7% | 39.2% | 730 of 764 |
| Bipartisanship | 1.3% | 2.9% | 469 of 764 |
| Credit claiming | 1.8% | 14.4% | 650 of 764 |
| Extreme labels | 2.6% | 1.0% | 83 of 764 |

Most discussed policy areas: International Affairs 42% (State House Democrats 1.4%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 22% (State House Democrats 9.8%); Government Operations and Politics 19% (State House Democrats 15%); Education 18% (State House Democrats 15%); Armed Forces and National Security 8.1% (State House Democrats 3.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.28 (standard error 0.02), from 645 donors and 519 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 93% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (GA 2025–26 session)

1,391 roll calls. Attendance 96.8% (Georgia House 93.5%). Party unity 91.5% (97.2%). 35 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-06-23 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-23 · voted nay · PASSAGE · SB 3 Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee; establish · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/SB3/
- 2026-06-23 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-23 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 78 Tifton, City of; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB78/
- 2026-06-22 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 61 Twiggs County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB61/
- 2026-06-22 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-22 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-20 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 30 Early County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB30/
- 2026-06-20 · voted nay · Local Calendar · HB 61 Twiggs County; ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption · fail · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2026_ss/HB61/
- 2026-04-03 · voted yea · House Vote #880 - 2025-2026 Regular Session · HB 1409 Domestic relations; revise mandated reporting of child abuse · pass · https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1409/

## Legislation (GA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 52 bills: 38 reached committee, 30 passed one chamber, 10 passed both, 8 became law. Cosponsored 0. 57.7% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Georgia House 65.7%; rank 134 of 177).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 2074: 5th Annual Green Egg and Kegs Festival at Dunwoody Village; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR2074/
- HR 2078: Barranco, John Baptist; honoring the life and memory; condolences (passed one chamber, 2026-03-31) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR2078/
- HR 1844: Evans, Shanita; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1844/
- HR 1799: Furman, Major William "Rusty", Jr.; honoring the life and memory; condolences (passed one chamber, 2026-03-19) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1799/
- HR 1798: Hubler, Ricardo "Ric"; honoring the life and memory; condolences (passed one chamber, 2026-03-19) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1798/
- HR 1703: House Study Committee on Criminal Post-Conviction Litigation; create (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1703/
- HR 1676: Yeshiva University Maccabees; commend (passed one chamber, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1676/
- HB 1535: Sandy Springs, City of; Redevelopment Powers Law; provide for a referendum (became law, 2026-05-11) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1535/
- HR 1648: Vietnamese-American Community of Georgia; commend; recognize March 11, 2026, as Vietnamese-American Community Day at the state capitol; recognize (passed one chamber, 2026-03-06) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HR1648/
- HB 1514: Fulton County; Board of Education; change election date of president (became law, 2026-07-01) https://openstates.org/ga/bills/2025_26/HB1514/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $187.7K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 76% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114750744150876597
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114790940510433291
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114791207595278591
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114794652771692688
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114794840160645232
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114433494864826787
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2114087961180397594
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2113595343493603803
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2113177909712019888
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · https://x.com/epanitch/status/2113179517158097401

## Links

- Official site: https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/house/5026?session=1031
- Campaign site: https://estherforgeorgia.com/
- X: https://x.com/epanitch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/esther.panitch
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherforgeorgia/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCja1ctAUBT_46zmsLhSSvsQ
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-panitch-49859a20/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/bdc621be-7296-4383-8c45-b4533d1c106c