Democrats got out the broom, but will they keep it?
As expected, a clean sweep for Democrats, up and down ballot
Two incumbents in the Georgia Public Service Commission lost their seats last night. Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson both lost to challengers. Echols held his seat for about 14 years, while Johnson was appointed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2021 to replace Chuck Eaton, who Kemp appointed as a judge on the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. Eaton had also held his seat for about 14 years. Both Echols and Johnson are Republicans. They lost to Democrats: Hubbard by a giant margin, nearly 390,000 votes in a statewide race in a year with no congressional, governor, or senate seats up for election. Similarly, Alicia Johnson, a Democrat, beat Echols by over 372,000 votes. Both Democrats won with over 60 percent of the vote.
This is a meaningful race in a state that has two Democrat U.S. senators. The senators won their seats because then-President Donald Trump (#45) claimed the election in 2020 was stolen and urged Republicans to stay home and not vote in the runoffs. Then Trump backed Herschel Walker against the polished incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock. Walker was a defective candidate, hauling all kinds of mental and sexual baggage with him. It could not overcome his football god status, and he lost in a close runoff.
I believe Donald Trump had little to do with Echols and Johnson losing, at least in a direct sense. But both lost because of policies held by Republicans, mirroring Trump’s national fervor for energy and against the green, renewable movement. Johnson and Echols emphasized grid security and reliability of power, while they were both attacked by Democrat challengers on the rising cost of energy in Georgia. Georgia is the only state that has seen new licensed nuclear reactors in several decades, and the rate increases sought by Southern Nuclear, the operator of Plant Vogtle and its four reactor units, were more or less rubber stamped by the PSC under Republican control.
Voters chose based on the belief that Republicans on the PSC had rolled costs to electric customers of Georgia Power (both utilities are owned by the Southern Company), rather than the companies themselves and shareholders. Though Echols touted his record on renewable energy—Georgia has vastly increased its solar energy output—this was not enough to overcome voter dissatisfaction with Republicans. That, plus the fact that a large chunk of Georgia’s solar output is pledged to massive data centers that have attractive tax deals with the state.
The PSC elections had been tied up in court over a 2022 lawsuit challenging the statewide at-large method used to elect commissioners. This delayed the election, and part of what we saw last night might have been pent-up anger. But here’s the main point: in a state that’s voted reliably red at the governor and statewide level for over a decade, Democrats swept all the statewide races, and held on to most local incumbents.
In a larger sense, Democrats swept Virginia, New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Proposition 50 special redistricting in California. Democrats got out the broom and swept Republicans into the bin last night.
I’d say this was a stunning victory, but I’m not really stunned by it. However, looking at how deeply the victory ran, I’d say Republicans have a lot of things to work out before the 2026 midterms. If those midterms, or even a special election had happened last night, Democrats would have handily flipped both houses of Congress, and likely many state houses and legislatures. California’s redistricting plan will counteract Texas’ GOP redraw.
There will be a temptation that the mainstream media can’t help but fall into, that places too much importance on this election. It’s not a ground-shifting earthquake of rebuke against Donald Trump, but it is an indication of just how dissatisfied voters are with this divisive, harmful political environment. They are so dissatisfied that Virginia voters would elect Jay Jones, someone whose execrable texts about putting two bullets in the back of his opponent’s head, as their attorney general, beating incumbent Republican Jason Miyares by over 215,000 votes (53.2% to 46.8%).
But that dissatisfaction may or may not indicate a sea change in electoral results. Donald Trump’s approval rating had been pretty stable, not great but within the same bounds it had always been. But on November 4th, it hit -10.8, the lowest it’s been all term. Inflation, the economy, and immigration lead the parade of bad results for Trump. If the trend continues during the shutdown (which Democrats in Virginia leveraged in a D.C. heavy state to blame Republicans), it could build more groundswell against Trump and Republicans bleeding into 2026.
What is evident is that voters are unhappy, and they let Republicans know it, up and down the ballot. Unhappy voters vote against the incumbents. In states like Massachusetts, where Sen. Ed Markey’s blue seat is being challenged by Rep. Seth Moulton, another Democrat, it doesn’t much matter. Or in New York, where Trump is disappointed his Democrat candidate and schmuck-buddy Andrew Cuomo lost to Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, it won’t much matter either.
But in Georgia, where solid red seats on the Public Service Commission have flipped—decidedly flipped—to blue, this could be, and should be, something Republicans need to study hard. Maybe a bit of the brakes on the Trump agenda (whatever that is) and more commonsense would take the broom from Democrat hands. Or maybe Democrats will over play and fumble the broom themselves. Or maybe a bit of both.
This election should not be ignored, but it should not be set in stone as the future either.
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Looks like Prop 50 passed in California, so we'll see if Newsom can redraw CA's districts to counter Texas's mid-cycle redistricting.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2025/11/04/california-prop-50-results/
I live in a relatively populous county by Georgia standards. There were four early voting locations open and very few voters used them (maybe 20% turnout). The only campaign signs in view where I voted were for cheaper power. I do not believe the Georgia voter's desire for cheaper power is compatible with solar energy or reliability. Most of the state is served by EMCs and municipalities which are not regulated by the PSC. I am an EMC customer, and my power is interrupted at least twice a month and costs more than Georgia Power Company. With regard to data centers, connected load of 25 KW or more have their choice of suppliers and are not limited by franchised areas. Municipalities and counties where they are located have ways of influencing who is selected.