Georgia congressmen who represent Columbus weigh consequences if House flips to Democrats

The two Georgia congressmen who represent Columbus are working hard to retain their seats in Tuesday’s general election, but both of them admit they could wake up to a different world Nov. 7 if the Democrats seize control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

Republican Drew Ferguson, a former West Point mayor, is looking for his second two-year term in Congress, while Democrat Sanford Bishop, who resides in Albany but spends much of his time in Columbus, is trying to win his 14th congressional election.

If the Republicans lose the House, Ferguson could find himself in the minority, while Bishop, because of his seniority, could be in a key leadership position, possibly a committee chairman.

Bishop said he is working as hard, if not harder, than he did 26 years ago when he won a seat in Congress for the first time.

“You can take nothing for granted,” he said. “Mickey Mouse could show up on the ballot, and if he has an R by his name, he is going to get at least 35 percent of the support.”

Bishop is being challenged by Republican Herman West Jr., who was raised in Cuthbert and moved back to Albany four years ago after working as a detective for the Atlanta Police Department. He is the pastor of a church in Sylvester.

The Georgia 2nd District, which covers the majority of the southwest corner of the state beginning in south Columbus, running into west Macon and then down to the Florida line is considered a Democratic stronghold. The district is majority black at 50.2 percent and Bishop is one of only four Georgia Democrats in Congress and the only one outside of metro Atlanta.

Bishop has raised nearly $1.1 million for his campaign and has almost $300,000 cash on hand, according to the mid-October disclosures. West has raised less than $19,000.

Ferguson, meanwhile, is facing a Democratic challenge from Chuck Enderlin, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and retired Marine fighter pilot who lives in Newnan. Enderlin, like West, is facing an uphill climb because the Georgia 3rd District, which stretches from north Columbus into the southern suburbs of Atlanta and over to the Alabama line at Carrollton, is nearly 72 percent white and solidly Republican.

Ferguson, like Bishop, also holds a substantial financial advantage in the race. Ferguson has raised more than $1.1 million and still has more than $200,000 cash on hand as of the mid-October disclosures. Enderlin has raised about $50,000 and reported less than $6,000 cash on hand.

A Ferguson or Bishop loss would be considered a major upset.

“I know our district well,” Ferguson said. “It’s not just a Republican-leaning district, but it’s a highly conservative district. It is a district where people want low taxes and common-sense regulations.”

In addition to their own races on Tuesday, Bishop and Ferguson will be watching the big board with great interest as all 435 House seats are on the ballot.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, was in the 3rd Congressional District late last week with Ferguson. The two toured the Kia automobile manufacturing plant in Ferguson’s hometown of West Point. McCarthy has a great deal personally to gain by the Republicans retaining control of the House. There is a strong possibility he could be Speaker of the House after the decision by Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., not to seek re-election.

“History is against us,” McCarthy said. “History says the party in power — the party that captures the White House — on an off year normally loses 32 seats. We have a 22-seat majority.”

But there is a difference in this election cycle and it is tied to the economic growth since President Donald Trump took office, McCarthy said.

“The last time a party had growth above 4 percent, they actually gained seats,” he said. “The last 49 years in America, unemployment has only been below 4 percent nine months in those 49 years. Four of those nine months, we just went through.”

Bishop is banking on that traditional history of Democrats gaining House seats.

The longtime congressman is the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.

“If the House changes hands, I think it’s a very possible reality that I could be in position for the chairmanship of that committee,” Bishop said.

His district has a large rural and agricultural component, with peach and pecan orchards in the north and cotton, peanut and soybean fields to the south. That committee oversees funding for the Department of Agriculture, Farm Credit Administration, Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“Considering that agriculture is the largest economic sector in the state of Georgia, chairing that committee would be critical,” said Bishop, who is the 36th longest-serving member of the current House of Representatives.

West, who has never met Bishop, is doing what he can to knock the congressman out of his seat, but admits it won’t be easy.

“I have been assuming it’s a uphill battle because history says so,” West said. “Our approach has been to tell the truth about the district. It’s the poorest district in Georgia and the sixth poorest district in the United States. It’s time we do something different and that’s what we are saying.”

Ferguson is going to control what he can, then deal with what comes if the Democrats take control of the house.

“I have certainly been in the minority before,” Ferguson said. “When I was mayor, even though it was non-partisan, we had four people who were Democrats and two who were Republicans on our council. West Point was 62 percent African-American and 70 percent Democrat. We were a Democratic city in a Republican district.”

That environment taught Ferguson how to work with those who are of a different political stripe.

“I have learned whether you are in the minority or the majority, it is incumbent for leaders to find pathways to success,” he said. “And after two years in D.C., I have never seen a place that has so many pathways to failure in my life.”