The Winner

If you live in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), the longest-serving member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, will keep representing you after winning an 18th term. The Associated Press called the race for Bishop at 7:59 p.m. on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. ​

Bishop had 148,193 votes, or 60.9%, to 95,263 votes, or 39.1%, for Republican Matt Day), a margin of about 22 points, according to unofficial results reported by 13WMAZ. That widened his 2024 margin of about 13 points, when he beat Republican Wayne Johnson 56.3% to 43.7%.

The Race

Day is a businessman from Douglas who calls himself a commonsense conservative. Both he and Bishop ran unopposed in their May 19 primaries, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Before the election, Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the seat Solid Democratic, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic, according to Ballotpedia.

The district covers much of Southwest Georgia, including Columbus, Albany, Americus, Bainbridge and Fort Valley, according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Bishop, of Albany, has held the seat since 1993.

The district has about 754,600 residents, a median household income of $52,500 and a median age of 37. About 21.8% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment is 7% and 21.9% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are 49.8% Black, 40.3% white, 6% Hispanic and 1.5% Asian.

What’s Next

Bishop’s new term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, in a House that Democrats won control of in the midterms. On Election Day, Bishop said a Democratic majority would put him in line to chair the House Appropriations subcommittee that writes the agriculture spending bill, a role he said could help Southwest Georgia, according to WALB.

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