In Fayette County, a Republican congratulates commission’s first black ‘demoncrat’ on her win
This month, Fayette County elected its first African-American to the county commission, the result of a legal fight over at-large voting that many contended was intended to negate growing black political influence.
Democrat Pota Coston beat GOP incumbent Allen McCarty in the contest to represent a new, majority African-American district on the county’s north side.
According to Josh Akeman of the Fayette County News, the welcome that Coston, who takes office in January, received last week from soon-to-be fellow Commissioner David Barlow began well enough -- with a nod to veterans and Martin Luther King Jr. But ultimately, the Republican commissioner gave up on winning that good sportsmanship trophy:
Barlow then went on to equate Democrats to demons and suggest their election amounted to an “evil that has been proliferating throughout our great nation.”
Fayette County Commissioner-elect Pota Coston
“We conservative Christians have been unmercifully attacked by the liberal demoncrats [Ed. Note: misspelling intended] and liberal press throughout Obama’s Presidency. November 4th changed all that,” Barlow said. “I will work tirelessly to see that in 2016 the GOP regains the Presidency thereby nullifying the evil that has been proliferating throughout our great nation. I declare this, in the mighty name of Jesus.”
Barlow subsequently quoted a local resident who referred to the county’s shift to district voting as “racist” gerrymandering. From the article:
"So pardon me if I don't buy [sic] the happy-happy-happy view on recent changes in Fayette that stole 4/5ths of every voter's county votes."
Coston, in an apparent display of extreme self-control, deferred comment.
About the Author
Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.
