Legislative primaries divide Gwinnett Dems
Gwinnett Dems set to decide two state legislative contests
The Democratic primary between U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux in Georgia’s 7th congressional district has emerged as a battle for the future of Gwinnett Democrats and the state party as a whole. But there are two state legislative primaries in Gwinnett County that could be equally as consequential.
Last year’s Republican-led redistricting session resulted in State Reps. Shelly Hutchinson and Rebecca Mitchell being paired together in House District 106, leaving the two lawmakers to compete for the Snellville-area House district. It is the only Democratic primary featuring two incumbents following redistricting.
Hutchinson, a social worker, was one of around a dozen Democrats to flip suburban legislative districts in the 2018 election. Mitchell, an epidemiologist, ousted a powerful GOP lawmaker in 2020.
The race between the two lawmakers has emerged as a largely sleepy affair. Neither has directly attacked their opponent by name and we have not come across any negative mailers from either campaign. They both share identical voting records and similar legislative styles.
Nevertheless, the race is still going to be huge testament to the diversity of Gwinnett County. A victory for Mitchell, who is white, could signal that Democratic Party still has work to do in order to turn out voters of color in primary elections. While a victory for Hutchinson, who is Black, could be yet another sign of a diversifying electorate in a county that was overwhelmingly white not too long ago.
“[Gwinnett County], which was more than 90 percent white in 1970, is now 35.5 percent white.”
The more contentious legislative primary is unfolding in Gwinnett is in Senate District 7, a Democratic-leaning district that stretches from Lawrenceville to Peachtree Corners. State Rep. Beth Moore is fighting to fend off a challenge from Nabilah Islam, a progressive activist who waged an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2020.
An entertainment attorney, Moore was also elected in the 2018 suburban wave. She is campaigning as an experienced lawmaker who can navigate the difficult politics of a Republican-controlled legislature in order to get bills across the finish line.
Islam is considered to be the progressive choice in the contest. She is an outspoken activist and has described herself as “Georgia’s AOC,” indicating that she aligns herself with the progressive policies of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In recent weeks, Moore has been pushing back on negative mailers being distributed by Islam’s campaign. One mailer accused Moore of voting to “give Republicans total control” and claimed that she has voted with Republicans “nearly 90% of the time.”
Moore took to Facebook to criticize the mailers and said that she will not partake in the negative campaigning. “It’s disappointing to see the extent of lies people, especially a fellow Democrat, will tell in order to win an election,” she said. “My head, heart and faith simply do not allow me to tear someone else down in order to build myself or my community up.”
In a way, this race is shaping up to be a proxy war between McBath and Bourdeaux. The former is supporting Islam, while the latter has endorsed Moore.
Bob Trammell, a former state lawmaker who served as the Democratic leader of the Georgia House, believes that the campaign atmosphere in both contests are different because of the dynamics in each race.
“I think the state house primary is more a function of the gerrymandering,” Trammell said of the race between Hutchinson and Mitchell. He suggested that this isn’t as much an ideological race as it is a race between two Democratic incumbents with nearly identical voting patterns who were drawn into the same district by Republican mapmakers.
Regarding the State Senate contest, Trammell — who has endorsed Moore — says the fact that it is an open race provides the candidates with a greater opportunity to differentiate themselves from one another. He went on to say that in Moore and Islam, voters will be choosing between two different legislative styles.
“The question on the ballot is more of whether the voters in that primary want to elect a Democrat who will engage the legislative process,” he said of Moore. “Versus more of your activist-model legislator who would engage the legislative process less, but provide harsher, louder critique of the process itself,” he said of Islam.
These races may have different dynamics, but they each have one thing in common: they each feature a white woman and a woman of color. So while the stakes may vary, we know that voters in the most diverse county in the state will be deciding which voice(s) will best represent their interests as we enter this new decade.
Many outside observers view these races as a fight for the direction of the Democratic Party. But Gwinnett Democrats, including State Rep. Sam Park, are encouraged by the number of candidates who have stepped up to run for office in a county that was once a Republican stronghold.
“I think that having competitive Democratic primaries and having the caliber of candidates running in Democratic primaries in Gwinnett — which was a Republican stronghold a decade ago — is an indication that Gwinnett remains the political epicenter of the state of Georgia,” said Park, a resident of Lawrenceville who chairs the Gwinnett state legislative delegation.
“I think it’s going to be interesting — not just for others but for myself as well — to see who voters want to move forward with,” Park concluded.
Interesting races and useful information 👍🏾
Interesting races and useful information 👍🏾