The state delivered Black and suburban votes to the Democrats without the drag of Republican gains.
Coming into Tuesday’s elections, Democrats dreamed of flipping all of the rapidly growing and urbanizing Sun Belt states and having the kind of landslide election result they haven’t had in decades. With larger-than-expected losses in Florida and Texas, and a third straight defeat likely in North Carolina, it didn’t turn out that way. Georgia, where Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden now holds a slim lead pending the tabulation of provisional and overseas ballots, was the lone southern bright spot for them east of the Rocky Mountains, and one of the few states anywhere in the country where Democrats improved upon their already-strong performance in 2018. They can thank the unique demographic makeup of the state, which emphasized the advantages that boosted Democrats without the setbacks the party saw in other states. It’s a transformation I’ve been watching play out as a metro Atlanta resident over the past 10 years. The Democratic Party’s first major push to „turn the state blue“ was in 2014, when it tried to win back moderate south Georgia white voters who elected Democrats a generation ago by running Michelle Nunn for Senate and Jason Carter for governor, progeny of Democrats who had won statewide in the past. That effort fell short. Then former state House minority leader Stacey Abrams offered up a different model reflecting her belief that the party could win with the population it has today, which is the formula that appears to have finally delivered Democrats their statewide breakthrough.
