◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek August 31, 202037ILLUSTRATION
BY
JOEL
PLOSZ
stateDemocraticPartyleaders,includingAbrams.
HisplatformincludesexpandingMedicaidandpro-
tectingtherighttovote,andhehasalmost$3mil-
lioninhiswarchest,accordingtotheCenterfor
ResponsivePolitics.ButWarnockhasreceivedneg-
ativepressforhisrecentseparationfromhiswife,whoaccusedhimofrunningoverherfootwitha car
duringanargument,anallegationWarnockdenies.
Inadditiontocompetingagainsteachother,
LiebermanandWarnockaretryingtobesttheir
Republicanrivals,LoefflerandU.S.Representative
DougCollins.Loefflerhasbeenthefront-runnerin
polls,withCollinsandWarnockcontendingforsec-
ondplace.A candidatewouldhavetotop50%to
avoida runoff,sothespecialelectionwillalmost
certainlygotoa two-wayrunoffonJan.5.
Loeffler,49,is co-owneroftheAtlantaDream,
thecity’sWomen’sNBAteam,andalsomarriedto
JeffreySprecher,theowneroftheNewYorkStock
Exchange.Loefflerandherhusbanddrewscru-
tinythisspringforstocktradesmadeaftershewas
privytoa confidentialSenatepandemicbriefing.
Shedeniedwrongdoing,andanethicswatchdog
clearedherofallegedinsidertrading,butit was
catniptohercritics,especiallyCollins.
Kemp appointedLoeffler withtheidea of
appealingtomoremoderatesuburbanwomen.
Butthatstrategy collapsedwhenTrumpstal-
wartCollins,54,gotintotherace,promptingthe
Loefflercampaigntomovefurthertotheright.
AfterLoefflercriticizedtheWNBA’ssupportof
BlackLivesMatter(whichshe’scalled“Marxist”),
herownplayerscalledforherremovalasowner.
TheyalsodonnedT-shirtsemblazonedwith“Vote
Warnock.”(LoefflerandWarnockdidn’trespond
torequestsforcomment.)
Collinsis runningasTrump’sfavorite,though
thepresidenthasyettoendorseanyone.Inthe
sameJuly weekthatWarnockpresidedovera
memorial service for Brooks, who was fatally
shot by an Atlanta police officer, Collins accused
the longtime Fulton County district attorney ofcharging his killer for political reasons. The DA, who
was also implicated in an ethics controversy, lost a
runoff on Aug. 11. Voters “are tired of the attacks on
police,” Collins says. Supporting law enforcement
and veterans is a plank of his campaign.
Loeffler has amassed and spent far more money
than any of her rivals, but Trump’s supporters are
behind Collins, says Debbie Dooley, an early orga-
nizer for the Tea Party movement in Atlanta. “The
grassroots doesn’t like Kelly,” Dooley says. “She was
supposed to appeal to moderates. Now that’s out
the window.”
In the other, less crowded race, Republican
first-term senator David Perdue Jr., 70, is being
challenged by Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old
documentary filmmaker who gained national atten-
tion a few years ago for a close but unsuccessful
bid to claim a long-held Republican congressional
seat. Perdue is running to protect conservative val-
ues and small business and opposes defunding the
police; Ossoff ’s priorities include adding a public
option to the Affordable Care Act, investing in clean
energy, and reforming the criminal justice system.
Recent polls have Perdue and Ossoff neck and neck.
In July, Perdue drew a swift rebuke from
Democrats when his campaign ran a social media
ad with a doctored photo showing Ossoff ’s nose
enlarged. Ossoff, who is Jewish, called the ad
the “least original anti-Semitic trope in history.”
Perdue’scampaignremovedtheadandblamed
anoutsidevendorforalteringthephoto.
ThepoliticalshiftinGeorgiais largelylimited
to cities and their outskirts. Incorporated in
2006, Johns Creek is one of a number of affluent,
onceoverwhelminglyWhiteandconservative
municipalitiesthatbrokeawayfromtheregion’s
majority-Black counties in the 2000s in the name
of local control. The years since have brought an
influxofyoungandprofessionalAsian,Black,and
Hispanicresidents.A thirdofthepopulationis now
foreign-born, a shift that is even changing the city’s
recreation options: In its newest public park, Johns
Creek is installing cricket facilities.
Democrats “have been predicting an imminent
blue wave since 2014,” says Charles Bullock, a politi-
cal science professor at the University of Georgia. It
hasn’t arrived yet and may not this year, but it even-
tually will, he says. “It reminds me of 20 to 25 years
ago, but in reverse: Back then the Republicans were
always saying they were about to take the legisla-
ture, year after year,” Bullock says. “And finally they
did.”�BrettPulleyandMargaretNewkirkTHE BOTTOM LINE Demographic trends are turning Georgia into
a swing state, and with two closely fought U.S. Senate races this fall,
the state’s voters could decide which party controls that chamber.“A very red
state is rapidly
becoming
more and more
blue”