Colton Chase Moore (born October 10, 1993) is an American auctioneer and politician who represents Georgia's 53rd Senate District in the Georgia State Senate. He previously represented Georgia's 1st House District in the Georgia State House of Representatives from January 14, 2019 to January 14, 2021.[2][3] At 24 years old, he was the youngest elected official ever from Dade County, Georgia, and is a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. On September 28, 2023, the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus indefinitely suspended Moore for attacking his Republican colleagues. Moore was later banned from the House floor in March 2024 for making inappropriate comments during a day of remembrance for late Speaker David Ralston.[4]
Personal life
Early life and education
Moore was born and raised on his family farm in Dade County, Georgia, where he resides today.[5] As a child, Moore said he "idolized Teddy Roosevelt, seeing him as a figure who acted quickly and boldly".[6] Moore was the state president of Georgia Future Business Leaders of America under Executive Director Monty Rhodes from March 2011 to March 2012. During that time he led more than 25,000 students and 320 advisers.[7]
At age 18, Moore became a commercial truck driver, and started auctioneering while studying at the University of Georgia. In 2016, Moore graduated from the University of Georgia with a double bachelors in political science and international affairs.[8]
Since graduating college, Moore runs his family's bulldozing and trucking business, and is an auctioneer.
Electoral history
Georgia House of Representatives campaign and election
Nineteen months after graduating college, Moore, then 24, qualified to run against incumbent John Deffenbaugh in the House race for District One.[9] Moore's budget was just $3,500 and completely self funded, a tenth of Deffenbaugh's campaign spending.[10] With no declared Democratic opponent, Republican Moore was elected as the presumptive District 1 State Representative on May 22, 2018, after defeating John Deffenbaugh by a margin of 326 votes with a final tally of 2,184 to 1,858.[11][12]
Georgia State Senate campaigns
In March 2020, Moore told the press that he would not be running for reelection for his house seat.[13] Moore instead qualified to run for the State Senate seat for District 53 against Jeff Mullis, whom he decried as a "political boss" who "has tried to push me out of my seat". According to Moore, he ran against Mullis for his alleged mistreatment of those that do not agree with him. Moore was at a financial disadvantage; Moore had $26 while Mullis had $250,000.[14]
In April 2020, Moore asked Senator Jeff Mullis to debate him in Dade County. Mullis refused, claiming to not wish to participate in a forum controlled by Moore.[15]
On June 9, 2020, Moore lost the Republican primary election to Mullis. Mullis was later re-elected in November, running uncontested.
Moore later launched his campaign for senator for the 2022 election, again running for Jeff Mullis's seat. In March 2022, Mullis announced he would withdraw from the election following medical issues, claiming he wished to spend more time with his family.[16] Moore later won the Republican primary on May 24, 2022, with 51% of the vote against political newcomer Steven Henry. He was unopposed in the general election on November 8, 2022 and elected to the 53rd senate district.[17]
On May 21, 2024, Moore won the Republican primary election for state senator with 70% of the vote against newcomer Angela Pence (29.8%). Moore utilized $274,000 in campaign donations while Pence utilized $3,600. Moore was challenged by Democrat Bart Bryant in the 2024 election. On November 5, 2024, Moore won the general election.[18][19]
Endorsements
In April 2020, Ringgold Mayor Nick Millwood announced his endorsement of Moore instead of incumbent Jeff Mullis. Mayor Millwood cited standing up against unethical politics and legislators, empowering educators, not compromisingly defending constitutional carry and the Second Amendment, and standing up for First Amendment rights as among the many reasons that he endorsed Moore. Millwood said: "During Colton’s term as a state representative, his frustrations at being blocked and talked down to by Jeff Mullis led him to tackle the problem directly and run for that seat. I admire his tenacity and ability to go right to the source of the problem and launch a public challenge to make a difference".[citation needed] Moore was also endorsed by Young Americans for Liberty.[20][21]
Policy and legislation
In 2019 Moore was rated by American Conservative Union as the seventh most conservative legislator in Georgia.[22] He has supported and cosigned bills such as HB 2,[23] HB 481,[24] and the "Heartbeat Bill"; supported 10-year term limits; advocated for the end of film subsidies; and supported HB 179[25] (died in committee) "which would allow school teachers and administrators to utilize discipline in schools without having it negatively impact their school’s climate ratings".[26]
Support for Brian Kemp
Moore supported Governor Brian Kemp from the beginning of his campaign, being the first representative-elect to endorse him.[27] On October 15, 2018, Moore acquired the domain name BrianKemp.com while Kemp was campaigning.[28][29] Previously, BrianKemp.com had been redirected to Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams' website, which caused confusion for those looking for Brian Kemp's official website.[30][31] Moore and friend, Michael Gargiulo, a domain-name expert, "brokered a five-figure name transaction to buy the rights to the site". Moore used personal money.[32] Following the purchase, BrianKemp.com displayed accurate links and information about how Colton Moore acquired the URL.[33][34][32] As of May 2024, the URL is now inactive. In November 2018, Moore unofficially campaigned for Kemp. Moore drove a truck that was covered in signs, urging people from Catoosa, Walker and Dade to vote for Kemp.[21] Kemp thanked Moore on social media multiple times, saying that the "Big Trucks for Kemp Coalition is working hard!”[35] and "Big thanks to State Representative Colton Moore for working to Get Out The Vote in Northwest Georgia with his 'Big Trucks for Kemp' dump truck!”[36]
Support for Donald Trump
Moore has also been a strong supporter of Donald Trump since the beginning of his campaign in 2015. In 2018, Moore extended an "official invitation" to President Trump.[37] In November 2018, Trump and Vice President Pence visited Chattanooga, Tennessee to campaign for Senator Marsha Blackburn.[38]
House Resolution 328
In 2019, Moore was among ten representatives who signed House Resolution 328,[39] calling for Georgia House Speaker David Ralston to resign due to his abuse of power and unethical behavior. Ralston leveraged his position as Speaker of the House to postpone his cases more than 900 times.[40] Among Ralston's clients were accused molesters, rapists, and individuals that were accused of committing a violent crime.[41] They confessed that they retained Ralston as their attorney because he could leverage his position in their favor to indefinitely postpone cases. David Shell, a man who has beaten many women, including having been charged by a grand jury as a repeat offender, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "That’s why I gave him 20,000 bucks… He’s worth every penny of it".[42] Moore wrote a letter to Speaker Ralston that read, "While legislative continuance is a right all legislators have access to, your use of this right has resulted in an unjust delay of violent criminal cases in our state… District 1 and many citizens across our great state believe you should no longer serve as the leader of Georgia's largest governing body".[41]
Opposition to judicial complex renaming
In February 2019, Moore was one of two dissenting votes against naming the judicial complex after former Governor Nathan Deal. Moore said that it was not right for Deal to be "the symbol of justice in Georgia", as his reforms were "insufficient".[43] Moore went on to write a memorandum to Kemp, listing the reasons why it would be an inappropriate choice to name the new judicial center after Deal.[44]
Georgia Future Caucus
In 2020, Moore became the co- chair of the Georgia branch of the Future Caucus, a bipartisan organization that educates on legislative issues that future generations will face.[45] Moore co-chairs alongside Representative Jasmine Clark.[45]
Warnings of civil war
On August 29, 2023 while appearing on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast, Moore claimed that his constituents could be "fighting in the streets" if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is not prevented from prosecuting former president Donald Trump and his 18 alleged co-conspirators for violations of Georgia's RICO statute and other offenses connected with the attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.[46] While recalling a conversation with another senator, Moore stated "I don't want a civil war, I don't want to have to draw my rifle."[47] He also suggested that Georgia Republicans "have the legislative authority to call in the state troopers and bring [the Georgia State prosecutors] in."[46]
Suspension by Georgia Senate Republican Caucus
On September 28, 2023, the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus indefinitely suspended Moore, issuing a statement saying "Moore has knowingly misled people across Georgia and our nation, causing unnecessary tension and hostility, while putting his caucus colleagues and their families at risk of personal harm".[4] This followed Moore's vocal advocacy for the impeachment of Fulton County, Georgia district attorney Fani Willis, who had indicted Donald Trump and 18 other people on felony charges. Moore replied, "The Georgia RINOs responded to my call to fight back against the Trump witch hunts by acting like children and throwing me out of the caucus".[4]
Exile from the GA House
On March 14, 2024, Moore was banned from the House floor after criticizing late Speaker David Ralston in the Senate chamber. Following remarks by Governor Kemp and former Governor Deal in honor of Ralston, who died in 2022, Moore spoke on the Senate floor, accusing the Georgia Assembly of memorializing "one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we’ll ever see in our lifetimes." Following Moore's speech, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones cut Moore off, and President Pro Tempore John Kennedy apologized to Ralston's family on the Senate balcony.
Current House Speaker Jon Burns later denounced Moore's remarks, claiming they were "some of the vilest you can say about a good man." Moore was then barred from entering the House floor.[48]
^"ACU Foundation's Ratings of Georgia 2019"(PDF). American Conservative Union Center For Legislative Accountability. American Conservative Union. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 1, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
^Galloway, Jim; Bluestein, Greg; Hallerman, Tamar. "The Jolt: Brian Kemp named a high-clout judicial commission. Here's the law firm that won". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved May 24, 2020. [Moore] denounced Deal's criminal justice reform efforts, a hallmark of the governor's eight years in office [as] reactionary and inadequate. "Georgians all across our state are feeling injustices as they enter into the criminal justice system," Moore said. "So I don't think we should just automatically name the most expensive building in the state of Georgia, at $110 million, after someone just because they were the former governor and just because they were forced to take on criminal reforms." Moore said injustices should be addressed before defendants are convicted. "In order to help the poor, the broke and the damned in our society, we've got to focus on those issues and not just create big government," Moore said.
^"Rep. Colton Moore - House Resolution 1 Response | Supreme Courts | Georgia (U.S. State)". Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via Scribd. "Respectfully, such a designation would be highly inappropriate for a building where the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals will be housed. Former Governor Deal continues to be extremely active in Georgia politics. He owns and operates a lobbying firm which already represents clients, such as Pruitt Health, that have significant cases before the state Appellate courts on matters ranging from wrongful death to fraud against state agencies. Should you approve HR1, these clients and their critical court cases will be heard in the very building named after the lobbying firm they have hired. This is a serious conflict of interest that eternally jeopardizes the crown jewel of justice in Georgia".
