Democratic lead in Georgia special election signals change in party’s fortunes

Earlier this week, a steady trickle of voters casting ballots in Dalton at Georgia’s City Hall offered a glimpse into what may be changing fortunes for Democrats in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former congressional district.The district hasn’t elected a Democrat since it was created after the 2010 Census. But the party’s candidate Shawn Harris drew the most votes district-wide – about 37% – on Tuesday and now faces Clay Fuller, a Trump-endorsed former prosecutor as his opponent in an April runoff election. The winner will finish Greene’s term until November, when a whole new election will take place.Dalton, is one of the district’s largest cities and the seat of Whitfield County, where a handful of precincts showed double-digit increases in Democratic votes this week compared with the 2024 presidential election, according to an analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The special election also gave a glimpse into what was on voters’ minds during a heated midterm election year in which Democrats are looking to take back control of Congress.The war in Iran, and perhaps its tangible effect on most people in the US to date – climbing gas prices – was on the minds of many, but didn’t appear to be swaying them from their core beliefs.There were die-hard Maga voters, as might be expected in the deep-red district. There were also white voters who voted Democrat but were so concerned about what their neighbors or fellow churchgoers might say about their views that they preferred being quoted using only their first names. Then there were Latinos – who comprise about 55% of Dalton’s population – both older ones who contributed to “the carpet capital of the world” when they came to work in textile factories decades ago, and their children, born and raised in north-west Georgia.“The war doesn’t affect me at all – it’s a very short-term thing, something that needed to be done,” said Yvonne Otts, 85. “We’re putting America first for the first time,” she said, adding that she supported a Republican candidate who she felt supported Trump.At 61, Juan Escudero has lived in Dalton 23 years and became a US citizen in June. It was his first time voting. He voted for Nicky Lama, Dalton local GOP candidate. “The president is doing a good job,” he said. “Even though I’m Latino, I support him – if you’re a hard-working person, nothing bad will happen to you,” he added, referring to the current administration’s mass deportation push.Luis Linares, a 24-year-old son of Salvadoran immigrants born in Dalton, also voted for Lama. He voted for Biden in 2020, but supported Trump in 2024. He saw the local GOP candidate as a continuation of Trump’s policies. “I feel like the US is stronger under Trump,” he said. “I feel like the war in Iran is to free their people.”Misty, who asked not to use her last name, said she wanted to elect “somebody who would stand up to Trump”. She voted for Harris.The 47-year-old who has lived in Dalton her entire life said she was concerned about Trump “stopping legal immigration. It’s insane.” She sees the war in Iran as “upsetting – we didn’t go to war for Iran; we did it for Israel”. She also said she felt “outnumbered” holding such beliefs in north-west Georgia.Larry and Debra, a couple in their 70s, said they were “not Trumpers” and also didn’t want their last name used. Larry said he “didn’t care” about the price of gas, and found it more worrying that “Trump only cares about himself”.Hannah Fleming and Laura Bishop also supported Harris. “Our government is ‘Israel first’ right now,” Fleming said, referring to the war in Iran.Nicolas Pérez, a 27-year-old 5th-grade teacher, voted for Harris, he said, “because at least he showed up and listened to Latinos. Republican candidates haven’t.” As for the war in Iran, he said, “Harris will provide some nuance, and not just be a rubber stamp.”Axel Morales, a 35-year-old with three jobs – including landscaping – said the “price of gas has affected me”.“As an immigrant,” he said, “we helped build this city. Other candidates targeted immigrants. Shawn Harris didn’t.”In the end, turnout this week was low, in many places more than 50% lower than in 2024, according to the AJC – so it’s hard to know what to expect in the runoff. Still, in a swing state where former congresswoman Taylor Greene raged about putting America first and disentagling the country from foreign wars, Tuesday’s voters, and the results, may offer clues about what to expect in November.