Shrinking white majority in Georgia threatens GOP’s hold

According to an analysis of the state registration database by the Atlanta Joual-Constitution (AJC) the percentage of white active voters in Georgia declined from 61.6 percent in 2010 to less than 58 percent in 2014. This wave of icreasing racial and ethnic diversity is moving much faster than expected.

The Georgia GOP has heard waings about changing state demographics for a while now, yet they’ve managed to keep their hold on the Peach State, maintaining a strong majority in the Legislature and staying in the goveor’s office for over a decade now.  As a result, many pundits and analysts concluded that while the state is certainly increasing diverse, the change is not happening as quickly as it was once predicted.

But according to AJC’s findings, 30 percent of active voters in the state are African-American, which leaves 12 percent of voters who are also minorities. With less than 58 percent of the electorate Caucasian, with not all of it voting for Republicans, and combined 42 percent of minorities, Republicans are clearly looking at a difficult dynamic.  In addition, among the new voters less than one-third were white, more than one-third were black, and the rest were other minorities.

Race is supposed to indicate voting trends in Georgia, with minorities tuing out for Democrats, and whites for Republicans.  Republican Georgia Goveor Nathan Deal won 77 percent of the white vote in 2010, to his Democratic opponent Roy Baes’ 23 percent.  But when it comes to the black vote, around 90 percent tus out for Democrats, and other minority groups are not far from that.

The midterm elections are usually more difficult for Democrats, who have trouble convincing their electorate to vote even when the president is not on a ballot.  Republicans are still favored in the 2014 midterms across the country and in the Peach State, but unless they find a way to appeal to minority groups, they’re not likely to stay in power in Georgia for very long.