This past presidential election, as well as the two U.S. Senate runoff elections, were chaotic, stressful and highlighted the significant socio-political divisions across our nation. 

Here in Lowndes County, Republican President Donald Trump won 55.4% (25,692) of the vote, while Democrat Joe Biden garnered only 43.4% (20,116). 

Republican Kelly Loeffler earned 56.4% (22,455) of Lowndes vote for U.S. Senate, compared to 43.6% (17,382) for her Democratic opponent Raphael Warnock at 43.6% (17,382). Similarly, Republican David Perdue garnered 56.4% of the U.S. Senate vote (22,464), while Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff netted only 43.6% (17,369). 

All three Democratic candidates won the state of Georgia but Lowndes is clearly a Republican county.

What about the City of Valdosta? 

Unfortunately, the Georgia Secretary of State and Lowndes County Board of Elections do not have data aggregated at the city level, so it is impossible to know exactly how Valdosta voted. We can, however, extrapolate based on the demographics of the city.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Valdosta has an estimated population of 56,457. For people who claim one racial category, 52.9% (29,866) of the city’s population is Black or African American alone, and 38.7% (21,849) is white alone (not Hispanic). Other racial categories comprise about 3% of Valdosta’s population, while 5.3% (2,992) identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

Since the mid-20th century, Blacks in the U.S. have consistently self-identified and voted as Democrats. This trend held true in the 2020 presidential election as exit poll data indicates that 88% of Blacks in Georgia voted for Biden. This percentage is consistent with national exit poll data. 

Only 30% of whites in Georgia voted for Biden, which is 11% lower than the national average. For the small percent of exit poll respondents who identified as “other,” 58% voted for Biden. Biden also netted 62% of the Hispanic/Latino vote in Georgia.

Applying these Georgia exit poll voting percentages to the demographic composition of Valdosta, Biden would have hypothetically earned about 63% of the Valdosta vote if every citizen voted. In other words, the large number of Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos who are likely to self-identify and vote Democratic make Valdosta a strong-leaning Democratic city.

Republicans may respond that Republican Scott James Matheson defeated Democrat J.D. Rice in the 2019 Valdosta mayoral election by 96 votes. However, the race was officially non-partisan, so that the party identification of the candidates was not on the ballot. 

The fact that it was an off-year election compounded the fact that low voter turnout has been, and continues to be, a hurdle for Democrats at the local, state and federal levels. Indeed, James (2,883) and Rice (2,787) combined for only 5,670 votes.

However, as the population of Valdosta continues to grow, and “get out the vote” initiatives continue to make gains, Valdosta will increasingly be recognized as a Democratic stronghold in the Deep South.

Professor Tom Hochschild is a resident of Valdosta.