Carolyn Bourdeaux is a GSU professor, former GA Senate and US Senate staffer, and she is kicking butt.
Very few people would have called this a 2018 battleground district last year, but without a doubt, Georgia’s 7th Congressional District is a barn-burner! Georgia State University professor Carolyn Bourdeaux is on fire, blowing away the incumbent in fundraising, building a strong agenda centered around healthcare, transportation, and education, and building a coalition that is diverse, broad-based, and progressive.
She started out in this uphill battle facing long odds. Although Trump only won the district by 6 points in 2016 (and Gwinnett County, which is most of the district, actually went for Hillary), GA’s 7th has been solidly R since 1994. But Carolyn recognized the same changes that are driving Stacey Abrams to new heights statewide - this district is “majority minority”, suburban, and well educated. In other words, it’s a Republican nightmare this cycle.
There hasn’t been any independent polling because nobody figured this north Atlanta suburb would be a battleground, but Carolyn Bourdeaux’s internals showed her slightly ahead in a dead heat race for Georgia’s 7th Congressional District seat. Her Republican incumbent opponent hasn’t released any internal polling, so he’s probably not liking what he’s seeing.
Over the past couple months, Carolyn has built up some serious momentum, including:
• She quickly united the Democratic field behind her after a heated runoff, building bridges to her primary opponents and building a coalition that is diverse, broad-based, and progressive.
• She consistently outraised her Republican opponent, replenishing her coffers after a primary in the expensive Atlanta media market. (Those numbers do not include the 3rd Quarter, which is rumored to be really strong for Carolyn — we should know any day now!)
• Her grassroots success landed her on the DCCC’s Red to Blue List, putting her in the national spotlight.
• . National analysts have noticed Carolyn’s progress, such as Cook Political Report who moved the race out of “Solid Republican” to “Lean Republican.” This race is wide open and very much up for grabs!
Carolyn is incredibly well qualified – she served as a staff member for U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, she directed the budget office of the Georgia Senate, working across the aisle with Republican leadership, and she is a recognized expert and professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, the number 1 non-profit university in the nation awarding bachelor’s degrees to African American students. She’s endorsed by Emily’s List, End Citizens United, Congressman John Lewis, Congressman Hank Johnson, former Sen. Max Cleland, former Ambassador Andrew Young, and a whole bunch of other folks.
Carolyn hits all the right notes, including refusing all corporate PAC money and joining 106 other Congressional challengers who have joined #ReformFirst. Her grassroots success landed her on the DCCC’s Red to Blue List.
To kick off this last month of the campaign, Carolyn went up on the air today with a new TV ad!
With less than one month left, in a sleeper battleground race, NOW is the time to push hard. This is the front line, folks – if this Blue Wave is going to crash hard, we need it to crash into districts like GA’s 7th. Carolyn has an incredible volunteer effort knocking doors (3000 last weekend!), making phone calls, and writing postcards – hers is a true grassroots GOTV effort. And she’s generating incredible support – WE CAN WIN THIS!
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PITCH IN WHAT YOU CAN THROUGH ACTBLUE – Carolyn is building her campaign on small dollar donations. PLEASE help us out with whatever you can! Help us turn Georgia blue!
Grab one for the road, y’all!
