The 2022 midterm elections are getting closer and there is speculation about how big a red-wave GOP can achieve. One blue district in South Georgia could indicate how far Republicans have come or how troubled Democrats are.
Georgia’s 2nd District is located in the southwest corner of the state. It extends upwards to Columbus and Macon in central Georgia. It is home to a few small towns and cities, but the majority of it is rural.
After the recent redistricting, 49% of the district’s population is black. However, the most striking feature about GA-2 is the fact that the majority of its residents have voted for Democrats in the House since 1875. The 2nd District elected a Republican member to the House in the latter part of Reconstruction. Since the birth of the Democratic Party, almost all of its residents have voted for Democrats.
Rep. Sanford Bishop (D.Ga.), has been representing the 2nd District for over 30 years. The closest he’s come to losing to a Republican is in 2010 when he received 51.44%. The tide may be changing. After the primaries, I wrote that the district was “likely Democrat.” RealClearPolitics called it a “tossup district.”
The Associated Press called it the “Deep South’s only competitive U.S. House Race” last week.
“West and Bishop are rare in the Deep South: Candidates for a congressional election that is even marginally competitive,” Jeff Amy of the AP reports. Although Georgia is now one of the most politically important states in the country for statewide contests and has been for some time, House races are often an afterthought because of how redistricting decimated the U.S. districts that both sides had a chance.
Now, however, the polling shows that attorney Chris West is within the margin of error but still trails Bishop by a razor-thin margin.
Insider Advantage polled 550 potential voters in the district Monday of this week. The crosstabs reveal interesting facts. West is the leader among voters under 40, white voters, and (naturally), Republicans. Independent voters are catching West off guard, but he trails Bishop by only 10 points in women. Surprisingly, almost 10% of voters remain undecided. This means the West has the opportunity to gain more ground.
Another poll, this one by the Trafalgar Group earlier this week, shows just how close this race is.
RealClearPolitics still considers this race a toss-up despite only two polls remaining.
“This poll reflects what we have been feeling on the ground for the last two months–this race has razor close and voters in GA-02 are ready to retire 30-year-old career politician Sanford Bishop,” West’s campaign stated in a Facebook post, referring to the Trafalgar Poll. “We have the momentum – and we’re going win this race!”
Evidently, West is using the economic difficulties that plague the nation (and GA-2 specifically) to his advantage.
“Sanford has been representing this district for over 30 years.” At a recent campaign event, West stated that we have been among the top 10 most poor congressional districts for the past 30 years. “And why should Georgia 2 be among the top 10 out of 435 congressional districts across the country?” West said, “It shouldn’t.”
Is Chris West able to pull it off in GA-2 It is possible? The fact that a Republican is so close to winning in GA-2 tells us a lot more about Americans’ distrust of Democrats and their policies.
