Democratic rout reshapes Georgia’s political landscape

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• County-by-county results reveal the depth of Jon Ossoff’s victory.
• A key Georgia bellwether shifted back into Democrats’ column.
• Georgia’s Democratic gains echo Stacey Abrams’ long-held political vision.

Taking the helm

For all the talk of razor-thin polls, nail-biter finishes and long election nights, Georgia Democrats delivered something entirely different Tuesday.

Blowout victories.

As expected, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff led the rout, crushing Republican Mike Collins by 18 percentage points. The surprises came down the ballot, though.

Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated billionaire Rick Jackson by roughly 360,000 votes, a nearly 9-point margin that few envisioned after months of bruising attacks, neck-and-neck surveys and unprecedented spending.

And it wasn’t just the marquee races. Democrats swept every statewide contest on the ballot, ousting Republican incumbents and capturing offices the GOP had controlled for decades.

Democrats are poised to win a majority in the state House of Representatives for the first time in 22 years, giving the party a path to enact its long-stalled agenda. Republicans maintained their grip on the Senate, but their majority narrowed, ushering in a new era of divided government beneath the Gold Dome.

The victories also ensured a dramatically different generation of Georgia leaders. Eight Black women won statewide races Tuesday, including Bottoms, the first Black woman elected governor in American history.

When the new administration takes office, Black women will hold seven of Georgia’s eight statewide executive offices. The lone exception is Democratic Lt. Gov.-elect Josh McLaurin. Sheila Edwards also won a statewide race for the Public Service Commission, giving Democrats control of the entity that regulates Georgia Power.

In a state where Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic electorate, they will now occupy nearly every top post in state government.

Things to know

Good morning! Here are three things to know for today:

• Greg Bluestein pulls back the curtain to show how Ossoff spent nearly two years plotting how to defeat the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race.
• Walmart is the first company to successfully appeal a jury verdict under a new Georgia law aimed at limiting lawsuits and easing insurance rates, beating an almost $1 million judgment in a slip-and-fall case, Rosie Manins reports.
• If there was a single moment that cost Jackson his election for Georgia governor, it was likely his decision in mid-October to attend President Donald Trump’s second rally in Georgia, politics columnist Patricia Murphy writes.

A humbling win

Just how big was Ossoff’s victory over Collins?

You have to go back to 1984, when Democratic U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn crushed Republican Mike Hicks by nearly 60 percentage points, to find a Republican Senate nominee in Georgia who suffered a worse general election defeat.

But the real story is in the county-by-county breakdown.

Ossoff outperformed Kamala Harris’ 2024 showing across Georgia, making gains even in the state’s deepest Republican strongholds.

He flipped Spalding and Lowndes counties, which backed Trump 58%-41% just two years ago. And he carved a blue streak through Republican territory in Middle Georgia.

Even Paulding County, long a Republican stronghold in Atlanta’s northwest suburbs, was suddenly competitive.

It wasn’t just a victory built on massive margins in metro Atlanta’s Democratic bastions. Ossoff made gains deep into Republican territory, turning what was once expected to be one of the nation’s tightest Senate contests into a historic rout.

Blue bellwether

Two years ago, Trump’s narrow victory in swing Baldwin County presaged his comeback.

On Tuesday, it helped tell the story of Georgia’s Democratic resurgence.

Trump carried Baldwin by just over 2 percentage points, ending a 20-year streak of Democratic presidential victories.

But Tuesday brought a sharp reversal. Ossoff carried Baldwin by about 12 points, while Bottoms carried it by 4. Other statewide Democrats also moved the county back into the blue column.

We took a deep look at Baldwin after Trump’s 2024 victory. Now it’s worth another look.

Upset alert

Democrat David Dillie came close to being thrown off the ballot last week after documents suggested he voted in both the Georgia and Nevada primaries earlier this year. Now, he might be on his way to upsetting a seven-term Republican incumbent.

Election results show Dillie was leading state Rep. Bill Hitchens by just over 800 votes. Hitchens, whose son Col. William Hitchens III is commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, holds an influential post as chair of the Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee.

Dillie, a 24-year-old aircraft mechanic and college student, faced disqualification just days before the election. But an administrative law court judge ruled he “had no identifiable intent or motive to vote in Nevada’s primary election and did not, in fact, do so.”

The result is part of a Democratic wave in state House races. Democrats are poised to win a majority in the House for the first time in 22 years.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Bluestein joins Murphy and Tia Mitchell from election night watch parties to examine Democrats’ statewide sweep and Trump’s role in Republican losses.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Abrams’ blueprint

Stacey Abrams campaigned alongside candidates in Georgia and beyond this year, mostly by focusing on people running for legislative seats currently held by Republicans. With Democrats poised to flip the Georgia House, it creates yet another example of how Abrams’ political instincts are often ahead of the curve.

Lt. Gov.-elect Josh McLaurin during his victory speech on Tuesday praised Abrams, who ran for governor twice, for helping usher in the Democratic wave.

“What you have seen tonight is that change is slow until it’s fast, and I know people in this room who have been in Georgia politics a lot longer than I have, who have done the work, who have organized,” McLaurin said Tuesday night.

“I mentioned at the rally last week, we owe Stacey Abrams an incredible debt of gratitude for laying the foundation for our victory tonight.”

Although Abrams’ campaigns were unsuccessful, she is credited with helping put Georgia on the map as a battleground state and encouraging the party to put more resources in building up voter outreach efforts.

Today in Washington

• Trump has no public meetings on his schedule.
• The House and Senate return on Monday.

Shoutouts

Today’s birthdays:

• Terry Rogers, owner of Rogers Strategies.
• Jake Strickland, Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson.

Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.