ATLANTA, Ga. – Democrats this week are celebrating significant nationwide electoral wins, including many across Georgia. What’s behind those wins?
The party secured off-year election victories in Atlanta’s mayoral and City Council races and for the first time in nearly two decades, secured two spots on Georgia’s Public Service Commission, the body tasked with guiding energy prices statewide.
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The election itself served as a bellwether on Republican leadership at the federal level amid an ongoing, and already record-long, 36-day government shutdown that has seen federal workers go without pay and funding for food assistance programs run dry.
Charlie Bailey, chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said Tuesday night’s results bode well heading into a 2026 election year that includes races for Georgia governor and a closely watched contest for a U.S. Senate seat currently held by Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff.
“Ain’t nothing like an election to tell us what voters think,” Bailey quipped. “What voters are saying is, ‘You know what? We’re not spectators at this play. We’re the actors in the play. We get to determine how this goes and you know, we’re fed up.’”
Even President Donald Trump seemed convinced the shutdown played a role in this week’s election. He took to social media shortly after the polls closed, writing “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to pollsters.”
With the election coming during the historic shutdown and months after mass layoffs of federal employees, there’s no doubt there was an undertone to this year’s races.
Some furloughed workers, who have now gone over a month without a paycheck, finally felt like they had some agency.
“I felt like I was empowered and had a way to voice my opinions,” said one furloughed CDC worker, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of losing her job. “We all feel voiceless and powerless and the only power that we really have right now is in the ballot box.”
Republicans in Georgia didn’t seem overtly concerned about the results of Tuesday’s contests. Some noted that the larger concentration of races were mayoral and council contests in the cities and suburbs, which tend to draw out larger numbers of Democratic-leaning voters who live there. Whereas in many rural areas, the Public Service Commission – the only statewide race on the ballot – meant smaller numbers were coming out to vote.
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