Gen Z’s night in Atlanta – and other takeaways from Georgia’s general primary election

It was Gen Z’s night on Tuesday: All but one of the youngest cohort of statehouse candidates cruised to victories in metro-Atlanta.

One big upset stood out in particular, sending shockwaves through the political establishment. That was Gabriel Sanchez’s victory over State Rep. Teri Anulewicz in the Democratic primary for her Cobb County legislative district, which covers parts of Smyrna and Marietta. Sanchez won with 56.8% or 2,249 votes – compared with 43.2% or 1,711 votes for Anulewicz.

Anulewicz, who has represented District 42 since 2017, rose through party ranks to become deputy whip for Georgia’s House Democrats, while serving on key House committees, such as appropriations and transportation. Her reputation for working across the aisle earned her a broad base of support, even among Republicans. She won endorsements from a long list of state and local officials, including US Sen. Raphael Warnock, US Rep. Lucy McBath and the AFL-CIO of Georgia.

Her unexpected loss to a 27-year-old waiter and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) may signal a shift in local politics — one where young, organized progressives running to the left of the establishment can win elections.

By all accounts, Sanchez ran an impressive campaign. Anulewicz outraged him more than two to one, bringing in $123,648 in donations, compared with Sanchez’s $50,097, according to campaign finance disclosures. But nearly half the contributions to Anulewicz came from political action committees, while Sanchez’s contributions were overwhelmingly smaller-dollar, individual donations.

That reflects the grassroots get-out-the-vote mobilization that Sanchez’s campaign has undertaken since last November to win. About 100 volunteers knocked on 17,000 doors, with the target of swaying 2,500 voters to defeat Anulewicz, according to Sanchez campaign manager and DSA-Atlanta co-chair Kelsea Bond.

“Our main takeaway from this campaign — and it’s something that we already knew in our gut — is that there’s a huge disconnect between what the average voter or American actually believes in, and what politicians are doing,” Bond said.

Consequently, the Sanchez campaign’s approach was to go out and talk to constituents about their topline issues — housing, healthcare, a green economy — and connect them to DSA ideals. “This win just really validates what we’ve been saying all along, which is that our ideas are actually popular. It’s just that a lot of politicians are afraid to champion them,” Bond said.

Anulewicz did not respond to a request for comment.

Even for Cobb Republicans, her loss is a wake-up call. Skylar Akins, the Atlanta Young Republicans’ executive vice president and a resident of District 42, said it was completely unexpected.

If anyone had anticipated it, he added, a number of Republican voters in Anulewicz’s district would have chosen a Democratic primary ballot just so they could vote for her. “They definitely would have (picked a Democratic ballot). The only thing we were deciding on the Republican side in Cobb County was the sheriff’s race,” he said.

Akins acknowledged the “sweat equity” Sanchez’s campaign put in. “I know they flooded this district with people because I was personally canvassed by his campaign three or four times,” he said.

Sanchez will face off against Republican Diane Jackson for the House legislative seat in November. Jackson ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Other Gen Z wins

The other Gen Z candidates to win Democratic primaries for state House seats include Bryce Berry and Ashwin Ramaswami in metro Atlanta and Madeline Ryan Smith in a Middle Georgia district.

Berry bested a crowded field to win the Democratic primary for House District 56, which runs from Ansley Park, through Midtown, all the way southwest to Beecher Hills. The district’s two-term incumbent, Rep. Mesha Mainor, caused a stir last July when she switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party – attracting Berry and four other Democratic challengers.

If Berry wins against Mainor in November, he could be the first public school teacher in the Georgia House of Representatives. The 2023 Morehouse College graduate teaches 7th-grade math for Atlanta Public Schools. He told Atlanta Civic Circle last month that education reform, including greater teacher pay, along with affordable housing and accessible healthcare are its top issues.

Ramaswami ran unopposed to win the Democratic primary for Senate District 48 in Johns Creek, where he grew up. Ramaswami, a software engineer who just graduated from Georgetown Law School, will face off against the Republican incumbent, Sen. Shawn Still, in November. The Democrat has said he decided to challenge Still after the latter’s indictment in the sprawling Fulton RICO case against former president Donald Trump.

In Middle Georgia, Smith also ran unopposed to win the Democratic primary for House District 158, located between Macon and Savannah. Smith is a longtime challenging incumbent Rep. Larry “Butch” Parrish, who just completed his 20th term in the state legislature. This will be her second bid for the seat, after losing to Parrish in 2022.

A Gen Z challenger in Albany, Joshua Anthony, wasn’t able to unseat first-term Rep. David Sampson in the Democratic primary for House District 153. Sampson won a resounding 58% of the vote, compared with just 21%, respectively, for Anthony and another challenger, Tracy Taylor.

Incumbents fare well

Outside of Sanchez’s upset, incumbents fared well Tuesday night.

Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson staved off a competitive challenge from former Democratic Congressman John Barrow, winning 55% of the vote in the closely watched nonpartisan primary. Pinson was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2022 by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, so now he’ll serve a 6-year term.

In another nonpartisan judicial race, incumbent Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee also won with a commanding 83% of the vote. McAfee is overseeing the historic case alleging election interference against Trump and 14 co-conspirators.

Fulton Sheriff Pat Labat and District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor for the Trump election-interference case, both cruised to victory in their Democratic primaries. Another Democratic incumbent, Clerk of Courts Che’ Alexander, also attracted primary challengers, but won 52% of the vote to narrowly avoid a runoff election. These primary victories all but ensure their wins in November in the heavily Democratic county.

Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor truncated three fellow Democrats, winning 67.8% of the vote in their primary. He’ll face off against Republican primary winner Mike Baker, a former Gwinnett deputy, in the Nov. 5 general election.

Run-offs to watch

Several other elections will head to a runoff on June 18. In contests with more than two candidates, if no candidate secures over 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two vote-getters is held within four weeks.

Here’s a rundown of run-off elections expected for the five-county, metro-Atlanta area based on preliminary election returns:

Fulton County

• Democratic primary for Fulton County Commissioner, District 4: Incumbent Natalie Hall v. Mo Ivory.

Clayton County

• Democratic primary for Clayton Sheriff: Incumbent Levon Allen v. Jeffrey E. Turner.
• Democratic primary for Clayton County Commission Chair: Alieka Anderson v. Terry L. Baskin
• Democratic primary for Clayton County Commissioner, District 3: Tashe’ Allen v. Attania Jean-Funny.

DeKalb County

• Democratic primary for DeKalb CEO: Larry Johnson v. Lorraine Cochran Johnson.
• Democratic primary for DeKalb County Commissioner, District 4: Lance Hammonds v. Shakira Johnson.
• Judicial runoff for State Court Judge Division A-3: Yolanda Mack v. Dionne McGee.

Gwinnett County

• School Board District 1: Karen Watkins v. Rachel Stone
• School Board District 3: Steve Gasper v. Shana White

State Legislature

• Democratic primary for State Senate District 55: Iris Knight-Hamilton v Randal Mangham (DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties)
• Democratic primary for State Senate District 38: RaShaun Kemp v. Ralph Long III. (Fulton County)
• Democratic primary for State Senate District 34: Valencia Stovall v. Kenya Wicks. (Clayton and Valencia Counties)
• Democratic primary for State House District 96: Arlene Beckles v. Sonia Lopez (Gwinnett County)

Claire Becknell contributed to this story.