‘Put your money where your mouth is.’ Dems, GOP focus on Columbus ahead of 2022 elections
Columbus finds itself in the 2022 spotlight as Republicans and Democrats vie for control of Congress and even the governor’s mansion in Atlanta.
Top-ticket Dems and party faithful from the state’s 159 counties will descend on Georgia’s second largest city for its convention at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center Saturday. On Friday, the party will open its Columbus field office.
For them, the reliably-blue city is a gateway to southwestern counties that will be key come November.
GOP organizers and candidates understand that every vote will be important, even in places like Columbus. The Republican National Committee opened a local field office last weekend as part of its efforts to increase voter engagement and avoid a repeat of losses in 2020 and 2021.
The Georgia Republican Party will be back in 2023 as Columbus hosts its statewide convention. The region, party officials said, is a target for future growth.
Much of the attention this cycle comes because of a congressional race. Democrat Sanford Bishop looks to continue his three-decade stint in Washington by defeating Republican challenger Chris West in a redrawn district that is more competitive.
All of those factors make Columbus a focal point, politicians and party officials told the Ledger-Enquirer.
‘This is an important part of our state’
For Democrats, keeping Bishop in his seat, sending Raphael Warnock back to the Senate and making Stacey Abrams the next governor of Georgia are all key objectives.
Columbus is a key strategic point for each of their campaigns — particularly Bishop’s.
“That race is one that we know is important. Not just for our state but for the country,” Democratic Party of Georgia Chairwoman Nikema Williams, told the Ledger-Enquirer. Williams is an Atlanta congresswoman, but she was born in Columbus and grew up in nearby Smiths Station, Alabama.
“We know that Republicans tried to play games with redistricting and tried to make it more difficult for (Bishop) to be re-elected,” she added.
Columbus is the largest metro in Bishop’s district. The area also includes Albany and most of Macon among its cities. Bishop, 75, was first elected to the seat in 1992.
Through centuries of political change, the 2nd Congressional District has been reliably blue, regardless of its shape. Republicans haven’t held the seat since 1875.
However, the district was redrawn after the 2020 U.S. Census, and the new territory puts Bishop in a more vulnerable position. The district’s Black population falls to just under 50%, but the area is still minority-majority. Nearly 54% of the district’s voters lean Democratic, according to demographic and mapping data maintained by online app Dave’s Redistricting.
The election will be more competitive. However, the race is listed as “likely Democratic” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an online political newsletter.
But picking Columbus isn’t just about Bishop, party leaders and elected officials said. Carolyn Hugley, a Columbus state representative and co-chair of the state party’s coordinating campaign, said that holding the convention here sends a message that all corners of the state matter.
“Columbus has a strong group of Democrats in our area, and it also signals that the Democratic Party is going to engage all areas of our state, not just the metro areas,” she said. “That’s the biggest indicator. …This is an important part of our state.”
The region is also the “gateway” to southwest Georgia, a key region for Democrats, Hugley said. The area is home to some of the state’s highest poverty rates, and Abrams has said in previous stops that its residents are often left behind.
She officially kicked off her gubernatorial campaign with a stop in Cuthbert at the closed Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center. Both Abrams and Warnock have championed items such as expanding Medicaid and policies that would address the high cost of insulin — issues that directly affect the region.
‘Put your money where your mouth is’
For Republicans, Columbus presents opportunities. And this year, West could be the biggest beneficiary.
A West victory in November brings the GOP closer to controlling the House. The canvassing efforts here could also boost turnout for Gov. Brian Kemp and Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
None of those three are expected to win in Columbus, but they could gain much needed votes here. More than 30,000 Muscogee County residents cast their ballots for former President Donald Trump in 2020.
That’s why West was in town this weekend along with RNC spokesperson Garrison Douglas and state Sen. Randy Robertson as the RNC opened its field office on Veterans Parkway. The committee shares the space with the Muscogee County Republican Party.
The field office, West said, is a welcomed sight.
“I think it’s critical because this is the only tossup seat in the state of Georgia,” he said. “It’s going to be a razor close election just by the way that it’s drawn. What’s at stake is the majority in the House.”
The Columbus space is the RNC’s eighth field office across the state. Its organizers and volunteers have knocked on more than 1 million doors this cycle. The effort is meant to grow the party, Douglas said.
“Our thought process is you put your money where your mouth is,” Douglas said. “We don’t take any vote for granted, especially after we saw what happened in 2020. Every single vote counts. …We’re going to go to areas that we’re not expected to be in.”
Robertson (R-Cataula) stressed the importance of the 2022 midterms in another way.
As he told a story about a Democratic political canvasser visiting his Harris County home to deliver voting information to his second-generation, Mexican-American wife, Robertson said conservatives need to go to war.
“If you think the socialists are coming — if you think the communists are coming — I’ve got some news for you, they’re here. They were in my driveway,” he said. “You gotta ask yourself. Are we going to get outworked again?”
“We got to get off our rear ends and go to war,” he said about a minute later. “And when I talk about war, I’m not talking about guns and knives and sticks and all this. I’m talking about heart. I’m talking about courage. … I’m talking about walking into neighborhoods that you’re not familiar with (and) knocking on doors who you don’t know live there and taking them the message of conservative leadership.”
While all of the Georgia Republican Party’s attention is on the 2022 midterms, state party press secretary Dani Repass told the Ledger-Enquirer that the party can be competitive in the Columbus region for years to come.
The state party selected Columbus to host its 2023 state convention. Party officials considered hosting the event here in 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced that event’s cancellation.
It also helped that the party’s site selection committee had a great visit to Columbus. Muscogee County Republican Party Chair Alton Russell also heavily pushed for the convention to come to Columbus, Repass said.
“All the cards kind of fell into place really. It’s a beautiful site,” she said. “We love all the agriculturalists down there. We believe that they are extremely important to our state. We think that our policies are better for them than Sanford Bishop’s has been for the last 30 years.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2022 at 11:49 AM.