News The 'Black Belt' of Georgia That May Decide The Next U.S. Senate

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“We didn't just show up; we showed out — and Georgia shocked the world.”

So said Georgia state Rep. Winfred Dukes of the November election during a December campaign speech in Albany for U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff.

“Now listen, we have a little more business left to do,” Dukes continued. “We are going to show not only the people of Georgia … but the entire nation what the people of Georgia are all about.”

Although Atlanta may be the state’s population center, historically it’s the voters of rural Georgia who decide the winner of statewide elections. Dukes, a Democrat who represents the state’s District 154, is keenly aware of this, and is highlighting ways to bring more political attention to southwest Georgia and its proverbial “Black Belt.”

Dukes’ message reflects the attitude of rural Democrats statewide: Atlanta and its suburbs played a huge role, but so did we.

The 'Black Belt' of Georgia That May Decide The Next U.S. Senate

On election night, it was the votes of Albany and the surrounding Black Belt, in which President-elect Joe Biden took nearly 70 percent of the vote, that contributed to Biden’s narrow win over President Donald Trump in Georgia’s final vote tally. And it may do so again in the state's U.S. Senate...

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