Frustrated Georgia Democrats look inward as pressure builds to fight back

And, at the Georgia Capitol, Democrats are scrambling for new ways to counter MAGA policies, including staging a walkout that briefly stalled a Trump appointee’s bill that would allow the president to recover legal fees related to his prosecution on election interference charges in Fulton County.

They are trying to tap into visceral anger from the party’s base over Trump’s government-shrinking, cost-cutting, norm-upending agenda in his second term. But grassroots leaders want more.

“There’s a sense of urgency missing from the national response,” said CaMia Jackson, chair of the Fayette County Democratic Committee. “We need action, not just words.”

That frustration is colliding with a party in flux. On the same day Williams stepped down, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath suspended her exploratory bid for Georgia governor to focus on her husband’s health struggles — leaving the top of the ticket more muddled.

In interviews with more than a dozen party officials, a clear tension emerged: a base that’s energized and furious and a leadership class trying to find its voice.

Patti Hewitt, a former Democratic U.S. House candidate from coastal Georgia, sees national party messaging that’s “disconnected” from the realities of Trump’s second term.

“What I mean by that is that Democratic leadership is still playing by the rules — and the Trump regime has no rules.” Hewitt said. “It’s like taking a wet rag to a knife fight.”

Further emboldening the party’s left flank was the decisive victory Tuesday of Susan Crawford, a liberal candidate who captured a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat despite facing more than $25 million in spending from Elon Musk.

“Tuesday marked the unofficial start to the 2026 midterms,” said Georgia strategist Fred Hicks, “and could be an early sign, and the first sign of life, for Democrats since the November elections.”

‘A disaster’

Few Georgia Democrats have leaned into the moment as much as Ossoff.

After challenging CIA Director John Ratcliffe during a Senate hearing over the administration’s leaked Yemen attack plans, Ossoff told CNN he expects a landslide victory next year — and publicly dared U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to challenge him.

“I don’t think that she’s got the guts to do it,” he said of the Rome Republican. “But she would be a disaster in the United States Senate.”

Credit: Alex Brandon/AP

Credit: Alex Brandon/AP

The defiant posture is welcome to Pete Fuller of the Jackson County Democrats. He vented about the “lack of fight” by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a contentious government funding feud that deepened the party’s divisions.

Fuller said he’s hopeful Democrats can make the most of angst and frustration toward Trump’s policies — but only if they start “showing spine now.”

“Nationally, the only strategy I can decipher is ‘Let Republicans screw it up for 18 months, then tell people we’ll slow them down,‘” Fuller said. “The problem is the scale of the damage done in two years. Waiting until 2028 for some halt to the madness is just too long.”

Others caution that the long game is needed more than ever.

“Democrats need to sit back, vote no, take notes, explain their case and let Trump be Trump,” said Jimmy Johnson, former chair of Appling County Democratic Committee.

“Republicans, as ever, will wreck the economy. They will foul up government functions. Let them do it. The voters must be convinced that the MAGA plan is no good by seeing it fail.”

Williams, the now former state party chair, is just one of the Democrats trying to navigate the tension. A stalwart ally of former President Joe Biden — and a strident critic of Trump — she’s facing heat from the party’s left flank.

Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC

Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC

Party activists voted this week to make the chair position a full-time role, a move sparked by critics who say the unpaid, volunteer role needs an overhaul.

At a recent town hall in southwest Atlanta, Williams faced pointed questions — and lengthy monologues — from voters asking why Democrats weren’t pressing to impeach Trump a third time or how they would prevent him from suspending elections.

“It’s not normal times,” said John Morris, an Atlanta consultant. “And we shouldn’t be acting like these are normal times.”

Williams urged them to stay engaged — and not tear each other apart.

“We cannot let them overwhelm us and start fighting each other,” she said. “Because we know that we’re fighting for the people of our country. We’re fighting for our Constitution. And we’re fighting for our democracy.”

But for some, impassioned pleas for unity aren’t enough.

“We need inspiration,” Hewitt said, “not worn-out platitudes.”