Some East Cobb Republicans feel effects of Democratic ‘Blue Wave’

Cobb County may be trending for the Democratic Party in major elections, but East Cobb remains reliably Republican ground in the county and metro Atlanta area.

But it could be argued that East Cobb’s stronghold status has been dented to some degree in Tuesday’s elections.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams carried the county by 54-46 percent, following Hillary Clinton’s 46-44 margin over Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

Voters in East Cobb stuck with Republicans in those races, just as they did for the most part this week. (The results of all races are to be certified Monday by the Cobb Board of Elections.)

Yet for the first time in a long time, Democratic candidates were on the ballot in every race in the East Cobb area, which no longer has all GOP elected officials.

Lucy McBath, a Democrat from East Cobb and a gun-control advocate with a national profile, unseated Republican incumbent Karen Handel in a close 6th Congressional District race. Handel won East Cobb precincts decisively, getting in some cases more than 60 percent of the vote.

But McBath cruised in DeKalb and nearly drew even with Handel in North Fulton, following some suburban trendlines in Congressional elections that are favoring Democratic candidates.

That it happened in a district that has been in Republican hands since Newt Gingrich was first elected in 1978 is notable.

McBath’s unofficial victory was less than 3,000 votes, a year after Handel fended off Jon Ossoff by four points in a special election that was the most expensive ever for a U.S. House race.

Close calls in county, legislative races

In the Cobb Board of Education Post 6 election, Republican incumbent Scott Sweeney was defeated by Democrat Charisse Davis (in photo) in another close race. The post covers the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones and some of the Campbell area.

Sweeney ran strong in most East Cobb precincts where he lives, but Davis got most of her votes in the Smyrna and Vinings area that is her home.

Longtime legislator Sharon Cooper, the chairwoman of the Georgia House Health and Human Services Committee, was re-elected with only 52 percent of the vote for the District 43 seat in East Cobb she has held since 1997.

That 52 percent number is also is what Republican Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell received in her election to a third term representing District 3. She defeated Caroline Holko, a Democratic first-time candidate like many others in East Cobb, but this was Birrell’s closest margin since she was first elected.

Republican State Rep. Sam Teasley, who represents part of Northeast Cobb in District 37, was defeated also by the slightest of margins by Democrat Mary Frances Williams.

Otherwise, Republican incumbents prevailed in East Cobb, which is looking like territory of last resort for the county GOP.

Wake-up call for Cobb GOP

In a statement, the Cobb Republican Party said on Wednesday that “while the Blue Wave did not turn out to be the tsunami Democrats hoped for, it did hit Cobb County and did wash out a couple of our great Republican elected officials.”

Noting that Abrams won won Cobb by nearly 30,000 votes, the GOP added that “we all now see exactly how much we must fight for every vote, or concede Cobb to Democrats along with higher taxes for less services.

“Nothing in politics is ever permanent and sometimes a wake-up call what is needed to spur good people to action,” said the Cobb Republican statement.

Demographic changes are part of the reason why Cobb is becoming more “blue,” and not just in South Cobb. Marietta and points north in Acworth and Kennesaw also are voting more with Democrats.

Some precincts in East Cobb closer to the city of Marietta are also trending purple, if not blue. Some Republicans were getting closer to 50 percent than the 55-and-up margins they enjoy in easternmost precincts.

The Cobb school board, which has had a 6-1 Republican majority for several years, will now be a 4-3 split, with Democrats picking up two seats on Tuesday. Republican David Chastain, who represents the Kell and Sprayberry areas, was re-elected.

The Cobb state house delegation will have a Democratic majority, holding eight of the 15 seats come January.

The Ossoff effect?

In East Cobb, last year’s special Congressional election inspired Ossoff volunteers to launch candidacies of their own.

None of them won on Tuesday, but they did make entrenched Republican incumbents, some of whom see little competition, campaign more than usual.

All of the Democrats were women, and some of them, including McBath and Davis, are minorities. A number of them were outspokenly progressive in their views, which is also unusual for those running for office in East Cobb.

Holko (in photo) was among them, as she advocated for more transit options and other positions that aren’t heard much on the campaign trail in this community. The day after the election, she told supporters that “Rome wasn’t built in a day, and change comes in steps.”

Whether this year’s Democratic surge in Cobb is part of a permanent movement or not remains to be seen.

What seems fairly clear is that with a presidential race looming in 2020, East Cobb will be eyed for further gains by Democrats, and doubling-down efforts by Republicans.

More election coverage

• East Cobb Election Guide

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!