Georgia Democrats hope an anti-Trump mood could propel state Senate candidate to upset win in runoff

The winds of change might be blowing through Georgia Debra Shigley is the Democratic candidate to replace State Sen Brandon Beach Credit Ross Williams Georgia Recorder At least that s what Democrats are hoping for as both parties gear up for a competitive runoff voting process for an open state Senate seat Georgia Democrats hopes were lifted when Democrat Debra Shigley easily secured the top spot in a seven-way race Tuesday and advanced to a runoff in a district that overwhelmingly reelected a Republican senator last year and helped send President Donald Trump back to the White House Shigley who was the only Democrat in the first round of voting is now preparing for a tougher challenge a head-to-head race with a Republican Her opponent will likely be Jason Dickerson who held a narrow -vote edge for second place over fellow Republican Steve West as the votes were tabulated Tuesday night West could still ask for a recount Shigley a Milton mom attorney and small business owner is running on a platform of improving affordability for families strengthening population school systems and expanding access to medical care Dickerson a Cherokee County resident is the president of a private commitment firm and has cast himself as a political outsider who plans to prioritize property tax relief and improving access to affordable housing for seniors They were among the seven candidates who sought to replace Alpharetta Republican Sen Brandon Beach who resigned from the Senate earlier this year after Trump appointed him to serve as the th U S Treasurer The district which includes parts of Fulton and Cherokee counties is predominantly Republican with Beach receiving upwards of of the vote against a Democratic challenger in But Tuesday night s turnout in which Shigley garnered nearly of the vote against Dickerson s might be an early bellwether for Democratic enthusiasm in Georgia and across the country In various precincts Democratic help jumped by as much as points Shigley who stated she is ramping up campaign efforts ahead of the runoff referendum attributed her success to her willingness to stand up against Trump s agenda as well as growing frustration with the president s policies The fact that we were running against six very MAGA Republicans in the jungle part of this voting process I think people were frustrated Shigley revealed They were frustrated with the status quo and declared as much and were encouraged by the vision that I m offering The special electoral process is what is known as a jungle primary where instead of holding separate primaries for Democrats and Republicans the candidates are all running against each other at once Dickerson s campaign did not respond to requests for comment But in an online post Wednesday Dickerson tried to rally Republicans behind his campaign There is much at stake over the next month the woke left is mobilizing and will pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into our population to try to flip this seat Dickerson wrote in the post Now is the time to unite the conservative movement behind our campaign and send these liberals packing once and for all Democrats also saw successes in other elections nationwide An Iowa special ballot held the same night resulted in Democrats flipping a seat in a historically red district urgent the Republican supermajority in the Iowa state Senate Nate Rich the Cherokee County Democratic Party chair noted Tuesday s turnout signals a growing frustration with Republican policies at both the federal and state level People are looking for a way to make a meaningful impact and make a difference and so they re showing up to knock on doors and write postcards and phone friends he stated Anything they can do to get Debra across the finish line is kind of an act of protest with our national politics He also credited the high Democratic turnout in the historically red county to Shigley s strength as a candidate When you spend chosen time with her it s hard not to have this infectious potency and optimism Rich mentioned And so I think that that really puts gas in people s tanks GOP chairs in both Fulton and Cherokee counties did not directly respond to a request for comment But Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon cautioned voters against reading too much into the outcome in comments he made on the night of the electoral contest This is an vote taking place in the dead of summer he reported People are returning from summer vacation People don t know there s an referendum They re not used to voting at this time of year According to University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock Shigley will likely face an uphill battle in the runoff balloting but added that the increase in turnout was a good sign for Democrats The fact that the Democrat made it into the runoff that s ostensibly substantial Bullock noted I suspect going into it the expectation was it ll be two Republicans and it isn t Bulk likely Bullock disclosed the Republican candidate will ultimately pull through as GOP voters consolidate around one candidate in the runoff polling But he reported the competitive Republican race which included attacks from Dickerson s campaign aimed at former Commissioner Steve West and a separate attack website aimed at Dickerson could potentially dampen GOP turnout What we ve seen in past elections if there has been a really bitter contest on the side of the majority party that may make it demanding for the majority party to reunite as it moves to the next phase Bullock added This creates a situation in which the minority party can slip by and win a contest that if you looked at it objectively beforehand you d say we don t have much of a shot here The top two candidates will face off for a second time on Sept One week of early voting will begin on Monday Sept according to the secretary of state s website The post Georgia Democrats hope an anti-Trump mood could propel state Senate candidate to upset win in runoff appeared 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