Entering the political realm never really crossed Steve Gooch's mind as he grew up on a farm in Lumpkin County, Georgia. That is until he worked on a local campaign as a young man.
"I was involved in local politics and helped with a campaign for a local senator," the 1992 University of North Georgia (UNG) alum said. "I worked for him and I got the bug, so to speak."
Gooch also felt called to serve his community in the best way he could.
"I felt obligated to serve in public service through volunteerism," the 51-year-old said.
So in 2000 at age 33, Gooch ran for county commissioner of Lumpkin County and won. When explaining the position to people unfamiliar with the political system, he uses a 1980s television show as an example.
"To give you a funny comparison, if you ever watched the TV series with 'Dukes of Hazzard,' Boss Hogg was sole commissioner of Hazzard County, Georgia," Gooch said. "The sole commissioner is the chief executive and chief legislative officer of the county. It's a lot of power and a lot of responsibility in one person. At the age of 32, I had a lot to learn."
Gooch said his education at UNG prepared him for his task ahead. He earned a Bachelor in Business Administration in 1992 and a Master of Public Administration in 1998.
"My education at UNG was very important in preparing me for that role," he said. "Without it, then it would have made the job more difficult to do in those first few years."
Gooch's road to higher education was not an easy one. After high school, he went to work on R Ranch, a private resort located on 830 acres of land in the north Georgia mountains. After saving money, Gooch enrolled in UNG.
"I decided to stay at home and go to college," he said, explaining he paid for his own college tuition and books.
Gooch continued to work during his education, clocking a full 40-hour work week.
"I would go to school in the morning and work in the afternoon and on the weekend," he said. "So I wasn't your traditional college student."
His college education paid dividends. He continued to work at R Ranch, applying his business education to his job. Six years after earning his degree, Gooch returned to UNG for a master's degree. It was during these classes that Gooch started to understand the political system.
"It was very rewarding and I learned a lot about local and state government," he said. "We studied a lot of different topics. It opened the world up in a different way. That's when the light came on and I knew it was something I would do."
Two years later, Gooch ran for his first public office and won. During his tenure, he said he utilized the lessons he learned, such as making public input a priority and maintaining transparency.
"I solicited volunteers to help make decisions," he said. "I felt it would help create more public trust to the office."
The most useful lessons came from his finance professors.
"In budgeting classes, we talked about zero-based budgets," he said. "I applied the budgeting principle to finances in the county."
Gooch served as last sole county commissioner for four years and then as its first chairman of county commissioners for four years. Instead of seeking re-election in 2008, he ran as a Republican for the Georgia House of Representatives against Amos Amerson. While he did not win the election, he gained the notice of fellow Republicans including then-Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Perdue, who served as governor from 2003-11, appointed him to serve as board member of the Technical College System of Georgia. In 2009, Amerson nominated Gooch to be the third person to serve out a five-year term representing the state's 9th Congressional District on the state Department of Transportation board.
Representatives and senators from the state’s 9th District vote for the nominees. Gooch received 13 votes in two separate rounds of voting to win, which started a streak for the Dahlonega, Georgia native.
In 2010, Gooch ran for the state Senate seat representing District 51, which includes Fannin, Union, Gilmer, Lumpkin, White, Dawson, and parts of Pickens and Forsyth counties. He won and has held the seat ever since.
Currently, Gooch is the Senate majority leader, having served as majority whip of the Senate Majority Caucus and vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He serves as secretary of the Appropriations Committee. He also is on the Finance; Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee; and Regulated Industries and Utilities committees and an ex-officio on the Assignments and Rules committees.
Gooch said he never forgets his love of public service started in Lumpkin County, and he learned the skills to do the job at UNG.
"My time there was incredible and very rewarding," he said. "I think the low teacher-to-student ratio was part of it. I've heard at other universities, you are one of 100 kids in classroom. At UNG the numbers were smaller. Some classes as few as 15 and 20 students. In my master's courses we had eight to 10 students. That one-on-one was rewarding. You could ask questions and get interaction with the professor. And with 100 students you would hardly have interaction. The small classroom was rewarding with the way I could learn."
