Georgia voters rented Democrats the Statehouse. They must now earn the deed.
Georgia Democrats just had their best night in a generation.
Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of any state. Sen. Jon Ossoff won a second term. And Democrats swept every constitutional office on the ballot.
Under the Gold Dome, House Democrats picked up at least 12 seats and the majority for the first time since 2004. Senate Democrats picked up four seats and now sit two short of a majority.
None of that happened by accident. It took candidates who ran where the party had written them off, organizers who knocked on doors in the Georgia heat and volunteers who drove neighbors to the polls. Give them their flowers.
Georgia Democrats won almost everything on Tuesday except the argument. Voters didn’t hand us a mandate; they handed us a lease.
Democrats shouldn’t rest on their laurels
The full autopsy will take weeks, but I’ll go out on a limb: when it comes back, it will show Democrats won Georgia because Republican voters stayed home, not because they switched sides.
In the 132 counties Donald Trump carried in 2024, early turnout was essentially flat compared with 2022.
In the 27 counties Kamala Harris won, it jumped 9%. Even Republicans sounded alarms about sluggish turnout in their South and Middle Georgia strongholds.
A voter who crossed over is a voter we can keep. A Republican who stayed home will be back in 2028, and not for us, unless Democrats fix the affordability crisis and deliver on what they promised. The day before the election, on the podcast I co-host, I said voters were about to rent Democrats a victory, not buy them the house. I’m standing by it.
For 20 years, Republicans controlled Georgia’s budget and drew the maps. Now House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley’s caucus controls the Statehouse. Her caucus takes the gavel in January, and Georgia could soon have a Black woman as governor and a Black woman as speaker in the same Capitol. Every bill Gov.-elect Bottoms needs will now start in a chamber run by friends, not foes.
Credit Gov. Brian Kemp for ruling out a special session to curb Bottoms’ powers or redraw the maps.
The Senate is different. Republicans still hold it by two seats, with Democratic Lt. Gov.-elect Josh McLaurin presiding. That’s leverage, not control, and Senate Republicans still write the rules. In 2003, they used them to strip a Democratic lieutenant governor of his committee powers.
Seven things Democrats must put into action
Leverage only works if you use it. Use it for:
- Medicaid expansion. Georgia is one of 10 states that never fully expanded Medicaid. The Urban Institute estimates full expansion would cover nearly 300,000 uninsured Georgians.
- A living wage. Georgia’s minimum wage is still $5.15 an hour on the books, about $10,700 a year for a full-time worker.
- Childcare and a voice at work. Parents can’t work without childcare they can afford, and workers deserve a fair shot at bargaining for better pay.
None of that passes on autopilot. The biggest threat to Georgia Democrats isn’t Republicans. It’s complacency.
And 2028 is fast approaching: a presidential race, a state Senate majority two seats away, and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who told CNN that “come 2028, I will be running for high office.”
That could mean more than reelection. The state party has to be ready before the spotlight arrives.
- Keep the lights on. Start with an honest after-action review. Then keep this year’s field organizers working in every region, all year. In too many counties, the local party is a handful of volunteers and a Facebook page. That’s where the next majority is built or lost.
- Invest in the base. Black voters cast nearly a third of Georgia’s early ballots and anchor every Democratic win here. Invest like it, from metro Atlanta to the Black Belt, and not just starting in October.
- Build a real Latino program. More than 104,000 Hispanic Georgians voted early, and more than half had skipped the last midterm. That’s a neglected electorate. Meet it with Spanish-language outreach, Latino organizers and candidates.
- Build a talent pipeline. Today’s field organizer should be tomorrow’s county commissioner and the next decade’s state senator. Train staff, then help the best of them run, so 2028 campaigns aren’t renting out-of-state consultants.
Georgia voters gave Democrats a two-year lease. Pay the rent on time, and in 2028 they might hand us the deed. Get comfortable, and they’ll find a new tenant.
Richard M. McDaniel, a Georgia native and Morehouse College alumnus, is the founder and CEO of Enriched Strategies, a public affairs firm that helps businesses, nonprofits, and public leaders navigate policy and politics. A veteran Democratic strategist, he co-hosts “Maroon Bison Presents: The Southern Comfort Podcast.”
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