VALDOSTA – Lowndes County didn’t turn blue during the Nov. 3 election, Phyllis Hatcher, president of the Fourth Congressional Federation of Democratic Women, said, but it sure came close.

Now, she sees another chance.

Early voting for the Jan. 5 runoff election runs Dec. 14-30, so now’s the time to push people back to the polls, Hatcher said.

“Especially during the holiday times, people have a tendency to go along and about their lives,” she said. “But we wanted to make sure that we continue to get the vote – get the word out that there’s an election.”

Hatcher alongside other community members put together a voting registration drive late last month on Bemiss Road.

There may have been music and food, but voter engagement and voter education were the focal points as helpers asked visitors if they were registered to vote.

Hatcher pushed for Democrat Senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff but also campaigned for Daniel Blackman for Public Service Commission District 4.

The registration event was a Democratic effort but she welcomed all visitors to register to vote.

Treva Gear said the runoff represents a second chance. Though Gear, a Democrat, lost the Nov. 3 election for Georgia State Senate District 8, she feels a duty to get people to the polls.

She said some people weren’t able to vote for a multitude of reasons but the runoff offers another opportunity to make a vote count.

“This is that opportunity to go back and fix what was broken – what they didn’t do,” Gear said. “Hopefully, we’ll get more voters out this time because we could’ve gotten more than we had.”

According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, Lowndes has 75,356 registered voters. By the end of Nov. 3 Election Day, only 46,543 ballots were cast, leaving a difference of 28,813 not cast.

Adding votes means adding voices. It’s time to speak up and show out, Gear said.

“These two U.S. Senate seats can be the difference between a living wage, getting affordable care (and) making sure your pre-existing conditions are still covered,” Gear said. “Those things are on the table. Our environment is on the table.”

Lowndes County was 12.02% away from turning blue. In the presidential race, Georgia turned blue for the first time in 28 years.

“Our vote does count, we just have to make it happen,” Gear said.

Organizers said gaining the Georgia Senate seats for the Democrats will support the president-elect and vice president-elect – Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris.

Just as incumbent U.S. Senator David Perdue said at his Hahira rally Nov. 23, the runoff election will determine who has the majority in the Senate.

Should Republican incumbents Perdue and Kelly Loeffler win, the Senate will be a 52-48 split in favor of Republicans, but if Warnock and Ossoff win, it would be a 50-50 split.

Valdosta City Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody said if Ossoff and Warnock lose, the nation could face a similar situation to President Barack Obama’s time in office.

“Great ideas but nobody to help push the ideas,” Miller-Cody said. “Unless we get these two candidates in the U.S. Senate to change what is going on in Washington, we are fighting a lost cause.”

She said if all registered voters in city District 1 come out, the city will turn blue but if all districts come out, it would be a home run.

Miller-Cody said she hopes to see pastors lead their congregations to the polls during early voting and Election Day.

“We still got to stay six feet distances and wear our masks but the pastors and their members can drive separate cars to come out and vote,” she said. “That’s what I want to see done: pastors bringing souls to the polls.”

Dec. 7 was the last day to register to vote. Early voting starts Dec. 14.