Area party leaders see lessons in Ga. results
Dems, GOP agree key is energizing voters, focusing on issues
With Democratic candidates winning their runoff races to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate, area Democratic and Republican Party leaders agree the lesson learned was to energize voters and rally them behind the issues.
By Wednesday morning, Democrat Raphael Warnock, a senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, was announced the winner, defeating incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. In the other race, Democrat Jon Ossoff, a film producer and investigative journalist, was announced the winner by Wednesday afternoon, defeating incumbent Republican David Perdue.
Many Democrats are crediting activist Stacey Abrams for her yearslong work to address voter suppression in Georgia. Abrams, who lost in the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race, created organizations like the New Georgia Project and Fair Fight to reach voters.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Abrams said her parents studied theology and that she would read their textbooks on how to grow a church and began drawing ideas from the texts: Establish beliefs for the Democratic Party — educational opportunities, economic security and shared responsibility — and reach the potential voters who haven’t participated in elections.
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wieser said the work Abrams did is a “blueprint” that can be used across the country.
“It’s a great blueprint to utilize in the future for a very aggressive ground game involving identification of unregistered voters, voter registration and then voter education and training,” Wieser said.
Former Rep. Lisa Beck, DCrown Point, and Wieser said they will meet with someone who has worked with Abrams “to tell us how we can prepare for the 2022 election.”
“Admittedly, Georgia is a different state than Indiana, but you know what? It wasn’t so different 10 years ago, and you’ve got to start somewhere,” Wieser said.
Myrna Maldonado, a former East Chicago Councilwoman, said she was tapped by the Democratic National Committee in 2004 to work on Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign in Michigan to “be a part of the Latino constituency.”
During that campaign, Maldonado said it was “boots on the ground,” going door to door to engage with voters. The group made it a point to connect with community leaders to “move forward into every and any community gathering we could find” to connect with Latino voters.
People “all too often” don’t realize that when they don’t vote it “really impacts their immediate future,” Maldonado said. Organizers work hard to engage with voters and show them the impact their vote has, she said.
“What Stacey has done on a grand level is really show folks how their vote actually counts. All eyes were on Georgia this time, and for that reason, I think
everybody in all the States realize every single vote matters now,” Maldonado said. “I am elated with what happened. I just think that is going to be such a marker, a bench mark, as to what other states do from this point forward.”
After watching the results in Georgia, Wieser said it proves that political change takes time, but it’s a worthy endeavor.
“Stacey Abrams and her group
didn’t just start yesterday,” Wieser said. “We need to recognize, one, it’s going to take some time but two, it’s time worth taking if we can implement a program of that nature.”
But, Wieser said the Democratic Party needs to remain vigilant because voter suppression measures are “a natural, historical response” by the Republican Party after an electoral defeat.
Voters will be energized by the results in Georgia because they will see “this can be done, and you can do this in your backyard, you can do this in your neighborhood, and you can do this in your state” Wieser said. From a governing perspective, the key will be to “reach across the aisle.”
“There’s got to be some recognition that the Republicans have a voice in this. It has to stop being so partisan and has to be governing for your constituents, and for the people, and what’s in the best interest of the country,” Wieser said. “(A) 50/50 (split) almost warrants that you’ve got to try to work together. You can’t just keep putting through important matters on executive orders. You’ve got to reflect the will of the people.”
Porter County Republican Party Chairman Michael Simpson said he was “disappointed” that Loeffler lost. Whoever controls the Senate, there are no guarantees as to what will happen next, he said.
“I don’t think it bodes badly for the Republican Party. We’re just going to have to continue to get the message out about fiscally responsible, smaller, effective government and keep pushing what we’re pushing in Indiana,” Simpson said.
In Porter County, Republicans are focused on encouraging people to vote and sharing with voters Republican messaging of balanced and effective budgets, responsible government, “high quality and responsible” public safety, and high quality infrastructure, Simpson said.
“It’s running for office and politics 101, and that is reaching out to the voters, encouraging them to vote and presenting them with a message that identifies the issues and how those issues are going to be dealt with,” Simpson said.
Candidate “engagement and involvement plays a huge role,” Simpson said. If candidates don’t stay on message, “the result usually always comes out the same: They lose,” he said.
Simpson said he had “no idea” if President Donald Trump’s involvement in the Georgia runoff election impacted the results.
“I think President Trump did a good job as president, and he certainly is popular here in Porter County as well as the state of Indiana. So I don’t have an answer for you on that,” Simpson said.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Dan Dernulc said if the Democratic candidates win, it means Republicans have to refine their messaging.
“If there is no fraud, the message that has been out there by the Republicans — although I think it’s been very good — just did not resonate,” Dernulc said.
Limited government, balanced budgets, “funding of police, and none of that talk of not funding or reducing funding of police,” are issues that “most Americans want,” Dernulc said. He said he is confident Republicans will still do well in Indiana.
“For whatever reason, it didn’t resonate in these races,” Dernulc said.