Tuesday’s primaries proved the power of incumbency, but there were exceptions. Democratic state Rep. Teri Anulewicz lost her Smyrna-based seat to Gabriel Sanchez.
On Thursday, Anulewicz joined the “Politically Georgia” show to talk about her loss.
“We did mail, we knocked on doors,” the Cobb County-based Democrat said. “I’m very well known in the community. I have really good relationships in the community. Turnout was very, very, very low — less than 4,000 votes.”
When reflecting on her loss, she said: “I wouldn’t say anybody on the campaign let me down. I did not have a hard time raising money at all, but it was definitely a little bit trickier just to get more folks to understand that every election is a serious election.”
“Cobb County is firmly established in a lot of people’s minds as a blue county,” she added. “So I think that it’s trickier to motivate turnout when you are trying to maintain incumbency than it is when you’re trying to, for example, flip a district, especially with no statewide partisan race on the ballot.”
Sanchez campaigned on health care and affordable housing. He said voters who supported him were concerned about heavy-handed policing involving protests against construction of as the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
He also had the blessing of the Democratic Socialists of America.
When asked whether she would endorse Sanchez in the race for her seat, Anulewicz said: “I’m going to vote in November. I’m certainly not voting for a Republican in November, but I’m going to decline to endorse right now.”
Sanchez now faces Republican Diane Jackson in this fall’s general election.
Anulewicz said neither candidate looking to fill her seat should take the Cobb County electorate for granted.
“My advice to every Democrat and every Republican whose name is on the ballot this November (is) there are 30,000 people in Cobb County who voted for (Republican Gov.) Brian Kemp and (Democratic U.S. Sen.) Raphael Warnock.”
When asked about her political future, Anulewicz got emotional when talking about the atmosphere at the state Capitol.
“I have said before that I’m very concerned about the wheels falling off at the Gold Dome,” she said, “because when you lose a commitment to decorum and a commitment to protocol, regardless of how you agree or disagree on the issues, that’s when the wheels start to fall off.”
Anulewicz added that she doesn’t expect to run for the state Senate in the future.
“Running for the Senate is not something that I have ever given more than a passing thought to because I think it’d be very difficult to accomplish anything of substance there,” she said.
Anulewicz, a member of the Georgia House since 2017, resorted to Greek mythology in describing the difficulties she experienced during the past legislative session.
“This session,” she said, “things begin to seem more Promethean, and by Promethean, I mean, you’re trying to bring something good to humanity.
“And your reward is to have your liver plucked at every day by an eagle.”
She closed her interview with a tip to incoming legislators. “My advice to anyone who is going into the General Assembly in the minority party is to be ready,” she said.
“You have to build relationships,” Anulewicz said. “And they have to be built on authenticity and trust. And that is really, really, really hard when you do have everything coming at you from social media, your own echo chambers.”
Note: The “Politically Georgia” team reached out to Gabriel Sanchez and is working to have him on the show soon.
Friday on “Politically Georgia”: Quentin Fulks, the deputy campaign manager for President Joe Biden’s reelection bid, sits down with Tia Mitchell for an exclusive interview.
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