Last May, I wrote that Republicans had lost the turnout battle in Fayette and that it was only going to get worse. More Fayette voters had pulled Democratic primary ballots than Republican ones, and I argued the county was on a fourteen-year path toward voting Democratic. On Tuesday, that path reached a milestone. Fayette County voted for the Democrat in all 11 statewide races on the ballot. Jon Ossoff carried the county by nearly 14 points, and Keisha Lance Bottoms carried it by more than 3. Democrats even beat four Republican incumbents in Fayette in the races for agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner, school superintendent, and labor commissioner. So it is fair to ask the question directly: Is Fayette a Democratic county now? The answer is more complicated than Tuesday night’s headlines suggest. The complications matter for both parties, but they matter most for Republicans who need to understand exactly why they lost. According to the Fayette County Board of Elections’ election night summary report, 62,730 Fayette voters cast ballots with all 35 precincts reporting. That is 67% of the county’s 93,294 registered voters. The Citizen reported that Fayette may have posted the highest turnout of any county in Georgia. Those 11 wins included the four races at the top of the ticket: The more revealing numbers are each party’s raw vote totals compared with four years ago. In 2022, Brian Kemp won Fayette with 34,116 votes and Herschel Walker won it with 30,178. This…
*This content (including text, artwork, graphics, photography, and video) was provided by the third party(ies) as referenced above. Any rights or other content questions or inquiries should be directed to such third-party provider(s).
