AJC poll: Democratic support plummets in Georgia as base demands more fight

The top contenders to take charge of the Democratic Party of Georgia are vowing to confront Republicans more directly — from top-level races for governor and U.S. Senate to down-ballot contests for local and legislative seats.

But they’re also contending with a growing chorus of progressive activists who say Democrats haven’t done enough to halt Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal bureaucracy, reorder global diplomacy and reconfigure the nation’s economy.

“We’ve got to show voters, including Democrats, that we’re going to fight for them,” said Charlie Bailey, a former nominee for attorney general and lieutenant governor who has dozens of endorsements heading into Saturday’s vote.

“We’re going to raise a whole bunch of money, and we’re going to flip these seats. It is going to be a full-court press. Republicans are going to be very unhappy if I win this chair race.”

Bailey and other party leaders are trying to prevent the further unraveling of gains made in the 2020 campaign, when Joe Biden broke a 28-year GOP streak by winning Georgia, and dual victories by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock flipped control of the U.S. Senate. In January 2021, the party’s approval in Georgia was at 50%.

Since then, Republicans have won every statewide race but one — Warnock’s 2022 victory over a scandal-plagued GOP nominee, Herschel Walker — and Trump recaptured Georgia in November by more than 100,000 votes.

Now, Democrats are struggling to find their footing. Only 24% of independents view the party favorably, a clear sign of the struggle to appeal beyond its base. Even among Black voters, the foundation of the Democratic coalition, support is shaky. About 59% express a favorable view.

Most strikingly, more than one-third of liberal voters have a negative perception of the party — a rebellion from the very people expected to champion its vision. Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic voters reflected that frustration.

“The party is limp-wristed right now. They throw a lot of softballs and say their hands are tied so they can’t fight back,” said Drew Crumbley, a customer sales agent in Ringgold. “They’ve been going to the center way too long.”

Amanda Brown, a product designer from Marietta, put it another way.

“They’re just not doing enough to fight back. It feels toothless,” she said. “I’m feeling a lot of anxiety and frustration and anger and it doesn’t feel like the party’s leaders are reflecting it.”

‘We can do it again’

Some are taking notice of the demands. Warnock has emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most outspoken critics in Washington. And Ossoff, facing a tough election campaign, held a fiery rally last month comparing Trump to a wannabe tyrant.

But Democrats also risk alienating middle-of-the-road voters by pushing too aggressively against Trump in a state he just carried. A winning Democratic coalition could hinge not just on energizing the party’s base but also winning over a sliver of disillusioned Trump voters.

The AJC poll found that 55% of voters now disapprove of Trump, a 10 percentage point jump since January.

Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC

Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC

Ossoff tried to navigate that line at a town hall last week. Responding to a frustrated attendee, he said he would support impeaching Trump if Democrats regained control of Congress. But he cautioned there is no secret procedural tool for his party to derail Trump’s agenda.

“There is no button that I can simply press that I’m not pressing or some tool or procedure that I can use that I’m not using that will reverse what they’re doing,” said Ossoff.

The Georgia Democrat is also at the center of the weekend’s vote to succeed U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams as party chair. He and other Democrats pressured her to step down before her second term ends in 2027 because they worried she couldn’t devote herself fully to the job.

Williams resigned her position in March, shortly after the party’s state committee overwhelmingly backed a rule change to make the party chair a full-time position. Party activists will choose among seven candidates in Atlanta on Saturday to succeed her.

Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

While most party insiders consider Bailey the front-runner, internal party elections are notoriously unpredictable. Other prominent candidates include former Rome City Councilwoman Wendy Davis, former Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis and state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes.

Davis is emphasizing her three decades of grassroots organizing, saying her long-standing relationships give her the tools to “change the operating philosophy of the party from the top down.”

And Islam Parkes, who modeled an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2020 after liberal U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is making a direct appeal to frustrated Democrats who want more pushback from their politicians.

“Now more than ever we need to fight back. We need to be aggressive and loud,” she said. “Our messaging needs to pack a punch and we need to build a strong statewide infrastructure to help Democrats in all corners of Georgia flip seats up and down the ballot.”

Count Daniel Austin, a security contractor in Warner Robins, among those rank-and-file voters demanding a bolder approach.

“Where is the government shutdown? Where are the protests?” he asked. “Democratic leaders are more focused on taking the higher road. But while they’re doing that, the Trumpers are robbing us blind.”

Staff columnist Patricia Murphy contributed to this report.