The Biden-Harris Administration recently kicked off a multi-city tour for its Black Voters for Biden-Harris voter outreach program. Standing in a parking lot outside of Twain’s Brewpub & Billiards in Decatur on a cool Saturday afternoon in early June, Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms took to a podium to speak to just under two dozen supporters about voting in November.
“This campaign isn’t taking a single Georgian for granted,” said Williams of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to reach Black voters, a crucial demographic to the campaign’s 2020 victory over then President Donald J. Trump. Williams called the Black Democratic block in Georgia, “the backbone of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Voting down ballot doesn’t always get the same level of political support that a presidential campaign does. So it is not a surprise that midterm elections do not draw the voter turnout and overall general interest that a presidential election does. That said, the numbers in three of metro Atlanta’s most populated counties by Black people, Clayton, DeKalb, and Fulton counties, were extremely low during last month’s midterm primary elections. The state of Georgia saw more than 514,000 ballots cast during those same midterm elections in May and less than 100,000 of those votes were cast in three of the seven largest counties in the state, according to data provided by the Georgia Secretary of State Office.
In Clayton County, which has nearly 177,000 active registered voters, according to Georgia Secretary of State data, only 13,443 voted in the primary. The Clayton County ballot included the race for county sheriff, which is now headed to a runoff between current Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen and Jeffrey Turner, the former Clayton County Board of Commissioners chairman.
In DeKalb County, the fourth largest county in the state, 34,214 active registered voters cast ballots during the midterms. DeKalb County has more than half a million active registered voters, according to Secretary of State data.
Fulton County, the largest county in the state of Georgia, boasts more than 751,000 active registered voters but only saw 53,001 make their way to the polling stations in May despite the sheriff’s race, which was won by a large margin by the incumbent, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, and democratic race for county district attorney, which was won by incumbent Fani Willis, on the ballot.
Runoff elections for primary and federal offices in Georgia will take place on Tuesday, June 18. Traditionally runoff elections see even less turnout than the primary election did. A prime example being the November 30, 2021 runoff election between Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore. Moore had received 41% of the general election vote in comparison to Dickens’ 23% before losing in the runoff, which saw much less voter involvement throughout Fulton County.
Bottoms, who had been out of the national and local political limelight for a while, mentioned being “rusty” but ready to drum up support for the Biden-Harris administration. She spoke of being told that it would be political suicide to endorse Biden for president in 2020, but she felt then and now that he was the right person to lead the country.
“I believe it even more so, because we know the words of Maya Angelou, when someone who they are believe them,” said Bottoms in reference to Trump, who was recently convicted of 34 counts of election fraud in New York City.
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