Earlier this week, a steady stream of voters casting ballots in Dalton at Georgia City Hall offered a glimpse of what could be changing the fortunes of Democrats in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former congressional district.
The district has not elected a Democrat since its creation after the 2010 census. But the party’s candidate, Shawn Harris, won the most votes in the entire district (about 37%) on Tuesday and now faces Clay Fuller, a former prosecutor backed by Trump, as his opponent in the April runoff elections. The winner will finish Greene’s term until November, when new elections will be held.
Dalton, one of the district’s largest cities and the seat of Whitfield County, where a handful of districts showed double-digit increases in Democratic votes this week compared to the 2024 presidential election, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis. The special election also gave a glimpse into what was on voters’ minds during a heated midterm election year in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress.
The war in Iran, and perhaps its tangible effect on most Americans to date (rising gasoline prices), was on the minds of many, but it did not seem to deter them from their core beliefs.
There were die-hard Maga voters, as expected in the deep red district. There were also white voters who voted Democratic but were so concerned about what their neighbors or fellow churchgoers might say about their views that they preferred to be quoted using only their first names. Then there were the Latinos – who make up about 55% of Dalton’s population – both the elders who contributed to “the carpet capital of the world” when they came to work in textile mills decades ago, and their children, born and raised in northwest Georgia.
“The war doesn’t affect me at all; it’s a very short-term thing, something that had to be done,” said Yvonne Otts, 85. “We’re putting America first for the first time,” he said, adding that he was supporting a Republican candidate who he believed supported Trump.
At 61 years old, Juan Escudero has lived in Dalton for 23 years and became a U.S. citizen in June. It was the first time I voted. He voted for Nicky Lama, Dalton’s local Republican candidate. “The president is doing a good job,” he said. “Even though I am Latino, I support it; if you are a working person, nothing bad will happen to you,” he added, referring to the current administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Luis Linares, 24, the son of Salvadoran immigrants born in Dalton, also voted for Lama. He voted for Biden in 2020, but supported Trump in 2024. He saw the local Republican candidate as a continuation of Trump’s policies. “I feel like America is stronger under Trump,” he said. “I feel that the war in Iran is to liberate its people.”
Misty, who asked that her last name not be used, said she wanted to elect “someone who would stand up to Trump.” She voted for Harris.
The 47-year-old, who has lived in Dalton her entire life, said she was worried that Trump would “stop legal immigration. It’s crazy.” She calls the war in Iran “upsetting: we didn’t go to war for Iran; we went to war for Israel.” She also said she felt “outnumbered” holding such beliefs in northwest Georgia.
Larry and Debra, a couple in their 70s, said they “weren’t Trumpers” and didn’t want their last name used either. Larry said he “didn’t care” about the price of gas, and was more concerned that “Trump only cares about himself.”
Hannah Fleming and Laura Bishop also supported Harris. “Our government is ‘Israel first’ right now,” Fleming said, referring to the war in Iran.
Nicolás Pérez, a 27-year-old fifth-grade teacher, voted for Harris, he said, “because at least she showed up and listened to Latinos. Republican candidates haven’t done that.” As for the war in Iran, he said, “Harris will bring some nuance, and it won’t just be a rubber stamp.”
Axel Morales, a 35-year-old man with three jobs – including gardening – said that “the price of gas has affected me.”
“As an immigrant,” he said, “we helped build this city. Other candidates targeted immigrants. Shawn Harris did not.”
In the end, turnout this week was low, in many places more than 50% lower than in 2024, according to the AJC, so it’s hard to know what to expect in the runoff. Still, in a swing state where former Congresswoman Taylor Greene raged for putting America first and disentangling the country from foreign wars, Tuesday’s voters and results may offer clues about what to expect in November.
