Representative Houston Gaines Contact information

State Representative Houston was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2018 and is currently in his third term. He represents portions of Barrow, Clarke, Jackson, and Oconee counties. Professionally, Houston has spent his career helping grow small businesses in his district. He currently works at Carter Engineering, focusing on expanding this successful small business. He previously worked at Cannon Financial Institute, serving clients across the country in the financial industry.

In the House, Houston has championed a number of important priorities for his community. He has authored 14 bills that have passed the legislature, including legislation targeting human trafficking and domestic violence and legislation to support substance abuse recovery. He was named a “Champion of Recovery” by the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse for his work on this legislation. He has also fought for and passed multiple healthcare reforms to lower costs and increase access for Georgians, and passed a 10% pay cut for politicians. In 2021, Houston passed a bill to provide paid parental leave for teachers and state employees, a legislation that Ivanka Trump helped champion, and passed important criminal justice reform. He also spearheaded a bill to prohibit local governments from defunding the police. Houston was elected by his colleagues in 2022 to serve as the Majority Caucus Vice Chairman as part of the House Majority Leadership Team. He serves on several committees, including Ethics, Ways & Means, Appropriations, Insurance, Public Health, Urban Affairs, Creative Arts & Entertainment, and Governmental Affairs. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations subcommittee.

As a third-generation Athenian and grandson of the late Judge Joseph Gaines, Houston has long been engaged in his community. He is a member of the Athens Rotary Club and has served on several boards and committees, including the Envision Athens Steering Committee, Junior League of Athens Community Advisory Board, LEAD Athens Alumni Association Board of Directors, and multiple K-12 and University of Georgia boards. He currently serves on the School of Public and International Affairs Alumni Board and the Northeast Georgia Boy Scouts Council Executive Board. He is a 2015 LEAD Athens graduate, and a graduate of the Zell Miller Foundation’s Leadership Institute. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, Houston served as student body president while at UGA and was named to its 2020 “40 Under 40” class.