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Cobb County, GA ballot

Ed Setzler

Republicanincumbent

State Senate District 37 · Cobb County, Georgia · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: Darcy Castro (Democrat)

Ed Setzler is the Republican incumbent for Georgia Senate District 37, having moved from the Georgia House (2005-2023) to the Senate in 2022 and running unopposed in the 2026 GOP primary. He is best known as the lead sponsor of Georgia's 2019 six-week abortion ban and, more recently, of a 2026 law making several metro-Atlanta county races nonpartisan.

What this office decides

A state senator votes on Georgia's budget, state tax rates, criminal statutes and sentencing, election procedures, school funding and voucher programs, and health care policy such as Medicaid eligibility. The Senate also confirms certain appointments and shapes what authority counties and cities have. Cobb County residents feel these decisions in school funding, local tax authority, and state road projects.

How this race lines up with you

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Dossier

Researched 2026-09-22 · Claude Code research agent with web search

Donald Trump: nothing found. No statement by Donald Trump endorsing or criticizing Setzler in this race was found; the only Trump-related material found was Setzler's own comment defending Trump regarding Roe v. Wade's overturning.

Who they are

Republican state senator for District 37 since 2022; represented Georgia House District 35 (2005-2023). Retired Army captain, physics degree (Furman University), engineering/consulting background. (BallotReady)

Positions

  • Taxes & spending: Cut the state income tax from 6% to 3.99%, capped further growth, and backs continued cuts (MDJ Voter Guide).
  • Schools: Sponsored SB 233's $6,500 school-choice education savings accounts and backs charter/open-enrollment options (Cobb County Courier).
  • Personal freedom: Authored HB 481 (2019), Georgia's six-week abortion ban, signed into law May 2019 (Wikipedia).
  • Health care: Backs interstate insurance sales and conditions Medicaid expansion on a 20-hour weekly work requirement (edsetzler.com).
  • Crime & policing: Opposed "defund the police," backed more law-enforcement funding and gang/trafficking crackdowns (edsetzler.com).
  • Voting rules: Sponsored a 2018 paper-ballot-verification law, supported SB 202 (2021); in 2026 sponsored a law making DA/clerk/tax-commissioner races nonpartisan in five metro-Atlanta counties (Cobb County Courier).

Record

Lead sponsor, HB 481 (2019); sponsored SB 219 (2017) autonomous-vehicle law and SB 3 (2018) career/tech-ed funding; co-sponsored SB 390 (2024) restricting funding to ALA-affiliated libraries (Wikipedia). Sponsored the 2026 nonpartisan-elections law now facing lawsuits from two Democratic DAs (Cobb County Courier). Chairs the Senate Science & Technology Committee (official bio, legis.ga.gov).

Money

His committee, "Citizens to Elect Ed Setzler," files with Georgia's ethics commission; itemized records date to 2006 but an aggregate current-cycle total/cash-on-hand wasn't retrievable from the search interface (ethics.ga.gov). A 2020 GPB profile reported he'd been cited over 20 times by the state ethics commission since 2004 for late filings (GPB).

Recent news

  • 2026-09-22: New nonpartisan county-elections law he sponsored is being challenged in court by two Democratic DAs (Cobb County Courier).
  • 2026-04-13: Georgia WIN List endorsed his opponent specifically to unseat him over HB 481 (Georgia WIN List).
  • 2026-05-19: Ran unopposed in the Republican primary, advancing to the general (Ballotpedia).

What we couldn't find

  • Ballotpedia's pages on Setzler and the district returned blocked/empty content on direct fetch; information drawn from search-result snippets only.
  • No current-cycle fundraising total, cash-on-hand figure, or top-donor list.
  • No statement by Donald Trump about this specific race.
  • No confirmed 2026 organizational endorsement list.
Sources (16)