Representative Esther Panitch Contact information

Esther Feuer Panitch, born on October 14, 1971, is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. She was elected in the November 2022 election and assumed office in January 2023. She represents the 51st district and is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Miami, Florida, Esther grew up in North Miami Beach. She attended the University of Miami, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Communications in 1992 and her Juris Doctor in 1995. After law school, she worked as an assistant public defender in Miami-Dade County from 1997 to 2002. She then opened her own law practice before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 2004. Before opening her own private law practice in Dunwoody in 2007, she worked at the Fulton County Conflict Defender’s Office.

In February 2022, Esther announced her campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives District 51 seat after Mike Wilensky, the only Jewish member of the Georgia General Assembly, announced that he would not seek re-election. The District 51 seat was open after being vacated by Josh McLaurin, who was running for the Georgia State Senate. After winning the Democratic primary, Esther defeated Republican nominee Peter Korman in the November general election. Both Esther and Korman are Jewish, ensuring that the 157th Georgia General Assembly would have at least one Jewish member.

In January 2023, Esther invited Miriam Udel, a Yiddish professor at Emory University, to become the first female orthodox rabbi to give the opening prayer at the Georgia House of Representatives. After the Goyim Defense League distributed antisemitic fliers in February 2023 in suburban Atlanta, including at Esther’s home, she sponsored a bill that would adopt IHRA definition of Antisemitism as Georgia law. In January 2024, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, making Georgia the first state in the United States to adopt the definition of antisemitism.

Esther met her husband Roger in 1997 on a mission for the Jewish Federation. They have two sons and one daughter. She is the only Jewish member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 157th Georgia General Assembly.