New Swing State Georgia Could Decide Control of the Senate

The residents of the once reliably Republican Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek signaled in 2018 that their politics were changing, along with the world beyond their manor homes and undulating country club fairways. In an excruciatingly close gubernatorial race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp, voters in Johns Creek precincts favored Abrams by 51% to 48% (she lost the election). This came two years after Johns Creek had voted for Donald Trump, and it chose John McCain over Barack Obama by a margin of 2 to 1 in 2008.

Now, President Trump’s bid to rile up suburban voters with warnings about crime and low-income housing that critics have called racial dog whistles doesn’t seem to be resonating in Johns Creek. “I’m afraid he’s a little too late,” says Brian Weaver, a Black 62-year-old elected last year to the city council. Johns Creek, he says, is “one of the most diverse cities in the country.” The town is still majority White, but barely, at 53%. Earlier this month, the city’s White police chief was forced to resign for criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement on social media.