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| Photo Credit: AP. |
GEORGETOWN, Ga. (AP) — In an uphill fight against a 30-year incumbent, Republican congressional candidate Chris West was scratching for votes in Georgia’s second-smallest county on a recent October evening.
West was
telling voters in Georgetown, just across the Chattahoochee River from Alabama,
that they should dump longtime Democrat Sanford Bishop if they’re unhappy with
inflation and gas prices. West said his own experience as a commercial
developer would help improve the fortunes of Georgia’s 2nd Congressional
District, long one of the nation’s poorest.
“Sanford has
represented this district for 30 years now. And we have been in the top 10
poorest congressional districts for the last 30 years,” West told supporters.
“And out of 435 districts around the country, why should Georgia 2 have to be
in the top 10? It shouldn’t be.”
West and
Bishop are rarities in the Deep South: candidates for a congressional race that
is even marginally competitive. Though Georgia has emerged as one of the
nation’s most politically consequential states for statewide contests, House races
here are often an afterthought this year, a reflection of how the latest round
of redistricting drained the U.S. of districts where both parties had a chance.
The 2nd
District covers Georgia’s southwestern corner, including Albany and parts of
Macon, Columbus and Warner Robins, but also miles of peanut fields, pine
forests and pecan groves sprawling across 30 counties.
Bishop, who
is Black, has long styled himself as a moderate, courting the largely white
farmers who drive the rural economy and supporting the district’s military
bases. He focuses more on legislative achievements and what his seniority helps
him accomplish than on political red meat, rattling off an eight-minute list
including COVID-19 aid, gun control and relief on medical costs when asked about
his most recent achievements.
“You asked
what we’ve done in the last two years and we’ve done a lot,” Bishop said in an
interview before a rally in Albany.
Bishop’s 15
previous victories have rarely been close, although the Democrat squeaked to
reelection by fewer than 5,000 votes in 2010′s Republican wave. Last year,
Georgia Republicans redrew the district to make it somewhat more favorable to
their party, sparking fresh interest from GOP candidates.
The 2nd
District’s status is an outlier after a round of redistricting that reduced the
number of competitive congressional seats nationwide. In Georgia, Republicans
took two competitive districts in the northern Atlanta suburbs that Democrats
had flipped in recent years and drew one safe Republican seat and one safe
Democratic seat. That means that even if Bishop wins, Republicans are likely to
hold a 9-5 edge in Georgia’s congressional delegation, compared to an 8-6 edge
now.
Like many
Deep South districts, it’s an outgrowth of the Voting Rights Act, which
required lawmakers to create districts where Black voters had a chance of
electing their preferred candidate, despite racially polarized voting. Many of
those districts heavily favor Democrats, while adjoining districts are often
heavily white Republican strongholds, reducing competitiveness. The U.S.
Supreme Court is considering a case that would make it harder to create new
electoral districts in which Black or Latino voters hold sway.
The 2nd
District was never as heavily Black as some other districts, meaning Bishop has
always had to pay attention to white constituents as well. The latest round of
redistricting nudged the Black voting age population below 48%, but analysts
say it still favors Democrats. For Republicans, winning will require almost all
white voters to support West, who is white. He’s been making campaign stops in
Black areas trying to peel off traditional Democrats.
West, an Air
Force veteran and lawyer with deep roots around Thomasville, won an upset GOP
runoff victory against Jeremy Hunt, a Black military veteran and Yale
University law student, by effectively arguing that Hunt was parachuting into
the district from Washington.
Now West is
betting that people feel the impact of higher prices more acutely than they
appreciate the achievements of a Democratic-controlled Congress. He argues that
if Bishop was ever a moderate, that’s no longer true, pointing to factors
including a National Rifle Association rating that has fallen from A to F over
time.
The district
is spotted with “Farmers for West” signs, as West argues that Bishop’s longtime
reputation as a friend of the farmer is misleading, saying that “the average
farmer doesn’t get any help from Sanford” and that it’s time to “rotate the
crop.”
Some former
Bishop supporters have been receptive to that message. Joey Collins, a
Thomasville farmer with 1,650 acres of pecan trees and 2,000 acres of
timberland, said he once gave Bishop $1,000. But he says that with high diesel,
fertilizer and herbicide prices, “I haven’t made a dime since Joe Biden became
president, not one dime.” Now he’s backing West.
“He was good
for southwest Georgia for a while and the pecan growers, he tried to help us,”
Collins said of Bishop. “Now, he does whatever the Democratic Party tells him
to do.”
Bishop says
he has been trying to help farmers get higher prices for their crops and reduce
input costs. Others don’t buy West’s claims that farmers are abandoning Bishop
in droves. Even Republicans acknowledge Bishop has helped them with some past
issues. Freddie Powell Sims, a Democratic state senator from Dawson whose
13-county district is within Bishop’s territory, said the incumbent has proved
his worth.
“Congressman
Bishop has the respect and the blessings of the larger farmers that are in
southwest Georgia because he’s done so much to answer their requests,” Sims
said. “When we had the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the floods, all of these things,
Sanford Bishop was there. And he didn’t have to be.”
Then there
are Bishop’s ethics problems. Two years ago, Bishop was referred to the House
Ethics Committee after an inquiry found Bishop may have improperly spent
thousands in campaign money for personal country club memberships and may have
improperly used congressional funds to pay for holiday parties in his district.
Bishop has said he’s already paid back some money, but hasn’t said how much.
Bishop has said his longtime campaign treasurer made mistakes while ill.
“Certainly
as soon as I found out that we had some issues, I immediately pledged to
cooperate to determine what irregularities might need addressing, because I
certainly have never condoned and will not condone inappropriate conduct,” Bishop
said.
West said he
expects more attacks on Bishop’s ethics questions in the closing days of the
campaign, but it’s not clear the Republican will have enough money to spread
that message widely. Bishop and Democratic groups have far outraised and outspent
West and Republicans. Bishop could also benefit from efforts by Democrats
including Sen. Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial challenger Stacey Abrams
trying to maximize Black turnout in the region.
That leaves
West to fall back on the same grassroots appeal that fueled his primary win.
“We are
going to surprise a lot of people in Washington that do not recognize the
people down in this district want new leadership,” West said. “After 30 years
in office, Sanford doesn’t have any more excuses. It’s time for a change.”
Follow Jeff
Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.