Putting aside the grim electoral college results of the night, there were a lot of positives for Georgia Democrats last night.
Let’s start with the performance of Hillary Clinton in Cobb County (details at Teri’s post) and Gwinnett County.
Ruminate on that for a second. Neither Barack Obama (2012) nor Michelle Nunn broke 43% here.
This is Hillary Clinton winning a majority of the vote in Gwinnett County.
Part of that victory belongs to the campaign of Sam Park, who defeated Valerie Clark in a race that few thought was winnable for Democrats at the outset. Rep-elect Park ran a fantastic campaign, concentrating on voters others have long ignored. He and his team deserves accolades, and they are emblematic of the changes in Gwinnett.
In Democratic circles we’ve long spoken of the charmed electoral life of Mike Cheokas, and how if anyone could put together a campaign down there, he’d be sent packing. Well, someone did.
It wasn’t all good news within the borders. Taylor Bennett lost to Meagan Hanson, in a race decided by fewer than 250 votes. That was a closely-watched race for both Democrats and Republicans. It was the seat held by Mike Jacobs that Bennett won in a runoff in 2015.
Overall, Hillary Clinton lost Georgia by a little over 5%. That’s closer than Ohio and just outside of the North Carolina margin. Here’s what the campaigns spent in media in the closest states this year:
Those big circles represent $10 million, the middle ones are $5 million.
You might notice one state in that group that didn’t even receive a dime. It was reported that Jim Barksdale kept Hillary from spending money here. Maybe that’s true, but if she had, could this state be blue right now?
Following an election such as this, there will be predictions of a blue wave, similar to 2006, in 2018, and a better than even chance of winning statewide offices. Given the results and trends above, it’s clear, we’re coming up, and they’re going down.