Black and Democratic voters gain on Republicans in Georgia

[RandySF]

Turnout among black voters soared in last month’s Georgia primary, a show of strength that could bode well for Democrats in this year’s contests for governor and other statewide offices.

The number of black voters rose 43 percent in the May 22 election when compared with 2010, the last time there was a competitive race for governor, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of demographic data released this week by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

The data show the broad majority of African-American voters pulled Democratic ballots, which could bolster the hope of Stacey Abrams, who is racing to be the nation’s first black female governor. Her Republican opponent will be decided in a July 24 runoff between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

At the same time, the proportion of white voters continues to decline. White voter participation in last month’s primary was down 9 percent from 2010. And white voters are more likely to be conservative, making up 93 percent of the GOP primary vote — and just 30 percent of the Democratic support.


https://politics.myajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/black-and-democratic-voters-gain-republicans-georgia/TCkvHmtpJ90NsGZTUMwJPK/

[underthematrix]

1. To my fellow African Americans - STAY STEALTH

You're doing it perfectly. Stay under the radar.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. There area a whole bunch of "northern" blacks down there

including family members of mine and several friends who moved down there. Most are politically astute but it would behoove that they get their neighbors and friends down there out to the polls come November anyway they can (and that includes getting folks set in some of the scary rural areas).

[underthematrix]

4. Yes. Black folks got folks to the polls to get Doug Jones that senate seat.

Of course they're talking to their neighbors, friends, family but they're doing it quietly. They don't want any attention because that would scare white folks and mobilize the hate machine. I'm 68 and see exactly what they're doing. It's old school and masterful #SwingLow

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is considered to be a code song or coded song, and is one of a handful of spirituals that refer directly to the Underground Railroad. ... Most of the code words in the spirituals refer to escape from slavery; the code words were used to hide the underlying, secret meaning of the lyrics.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Yup, ya gotta do what you gotta do.

I am really hoping and praying for them down there. There is NO reason.... none, why things can't change there given the population percentages (especially Mississippi). My great-grandfather and great-grandmother graduated from Atlanta U back in the mid-1880s. And that great-grandfather had been born and raised in the Buffalo/Rochester area and decided to eventually move to the south, being part of an activist family that was determined to do what they had to do to raise up our people post-Reconstruction.

[underthematrix]

7. Yes. Your family like mine was part of the Great Migration - The Warmth of Other Suns

POCs need to do three things on the QT. Register to vote, then vote. Be a #ConsumerMinimalist when it comes to purchasing the oppressors's products. I switched from Sprint to Consumer Cellular, bought their cheapest smartphone and their cheapest plan. I went from paying 189 to 32.25. And third, BUY LAND for cash.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Amen!

[BumRushDaShow]

2. "And white voters are more likely to be conservative"

So where are the "white liberals" down there? I know they are there. Hell Jimmy Carter and his progeny are still there.

Blacks are 32% of the population and whites are 53%, with 10% Hispanic. If you can get 30% of the whites (or some combination with Hispanics) to vote for a Democrat, assuming the other 70% are GOP, you could potentially flip all sorts of things.

[underthematrix]

6. There are whites of all types not just liberals but I

they're not as reliable as POC voters. And what I mean by that are the sorts of narratives the rightwing can use to manipulate them. I think everyone can agree now that Snowden was and is a Russian spy. I think most of can agree now that Al Frank did not sexually harass anyone. Yet, the outrage was deafening at the time. I think it could happen again in a way that harms our goal to turn both chambers of Congress blue.

What I'm saying is we have to learn to assess the noise before we get outraged. That's all I'm saying.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. But we also need some other folks to step up to the plate

What happens (and the threads were fast and furious here on DU) is that the narrative becomes - "Well POC didn't turn out as much as so that is why we lost and....blah blah". WTF? Where were the white "suburban liberals"? We can handle ours... someone needs to handle theirs.

[Different Drummer]

8. White liberal Georgian right here. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

12. YAY!

I know you guys are down there!

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. white liberals in GA are mostly concentrated in parts of metro Atlanta and Athens

the rest of the state outside of those areas is by and large extremely right-wing and god-haunted; get out into more rural metro Atlanta counties and you'll pass three gun stores and five churches inside of a few miles.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. Here's the deal.

In the state of PA (like other states), the "blue" is concentrated in the urban areas and immediate burbs. But there are enough from those urban areas due to the population concentration, to throw the whole state when it comes to both state-wide offices and top of the ticket Presidential races. You go past some of the western parts of the immediate rim counties here in PA and you pass gun stores and hunting shops too. Hell, the cops have a whole "gun row" just outside of the center city area here in Philly.

Thing is there are more people in the cities than in the rural areas and the Georgia cities need to embrace that - Atlanta (and some of the metro area), Macon, Savannah, Columbus, Athens, etc.

Get enough out of those cities out and throw the state!

Here in PA, blacks are 12% of the population and we have helped throw the state time after time after time. In 2016, the dog whistles resulted in rural white racist previous non-voters coming out to vote for the first time and 3rd parties finished us all off. But the odds are that not all of them may come out again if they feel they were "had" (and the ones who do feel that way sure as hell ain't going to admit it publicly)!

[Garrett78]

13. GA is practically a majority minority state.

It should be blue. If not for voter suppression, I wonder if Clinton would have won GA.