CARLTON FLETCHER: Hopson’s defeat of Ealum not a stunner

But she had timing, a-tick, a-tick, a-tick-a good timing.

— Jimmy Jones

It wasn’t one of those “for the ages” kinds of political upsets, but CaMia Hopson’s victory over incumbent state Rep. Darrel Ealum on Tuesday was a little bit of a stunner.

For some people.

But for the ones who were paying attention, Hopson’s Democratic primary victory over Ealum was not exactly a stop-the-presses kind of moment. Because of his actions leading up to the primary — actions that have rankled people in the past but not enough to have so many of them turn on him — Ealum was ripe to be beaten. And while Hopson, as she told The Herald during a candid conversation prior to the primary, couldn’t come close to matching dollars with Ealum, she ended up with a few aces up her sleeve that, frankly, she didn’t even know she had.

One was that she’d earned the respect and the support of a lot of people — many of them who have deep pockets — when she endorsed Matt Fuller during the runoff for the Ward II Albany City Commission seat that Fuller claimed over incumbent Bobby Coleman. Hopson, a complete political novice at the time, was left with one of those damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t choices when she finished third in that five-person commission race.

Because this is Albany, after all, Hopson had three choices as Coleman and Fuller headed toward their runoff. She could support Coleman, the African-American candidate; support Fuller, who is white, or stayed out of the fray altogether.

In Albany, the easy way out would have been to back Coleman. But on the day before the election, while she was campaigning near one of the local schools, Hopson said Coleman accosted her and threatened to have her removed from the spot where she was campaigning. And while she called the county Elections office after Coleman left and was assured she was breaking no law, Hopson was so unnerved by the encounter she asked Albany police to make steady patrol runs past her home that night.

Staying out of the Coleman-Fuller fray would have been easy, too, but not for someone who has future political aspirations. Getting a label as someone who avoids a tough situation has a way of sticking with a person.

Hopson weighed her options, talked to Fuller about what he would do for the people in Ward II if elected, and she wrote a letter endorsing him. She didn’t stop there, though. She actually campaigned for Fuller, who won the runoff rather handily.

The second secret weapon that was a secret even to Hopson was the benefactor(s) who were eager to see Ealum ousted. This group sent out mailers blasting the incumbent representative for his voting record in the House and, perhaps most damning, accused Ealum of voting against legislation that would have provided more funding for sickle cell anemia research. Anyone who hasn’t taken up residence under a rock knows that sickle cell is a disease that primarily impacts African Americans.

Some have accused me of being naive in not believing Hopson had something to do with the mailer, but unless she’s the best actress in the world (she’s not, by the way) her reaction when I asked her about the mailer when I first got wind of it was total confusion. She later asked me if I knew who had sent out the anti-Ealum literature — she sent me a photo of part of the material that went to voters in District 153 — so I feel confident she had what amounted to a Secret Santa working on her behalf.

But Ealum’s worst enemy in the campaign was himself. His use of photographs of Marine officials, state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims and eventual Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams without their approval on material that he says was “historical” — to which everyone else replied, “Yeah, right!” — certainly did nothing to help the incumbent.

Not lost on a lot of swing voters in the race was the reality that Hopson is well-spoken, up on all of the issues that impact the region and seems to genuinely care about the community and the people who live in it, not someone whose primary concern is the next election.

The two-year election cycle in the House makes for a swift learning curve, so Hopson will have to do her homework and collect some allies who can actually have an impact — i.e. the House leadership and Republicans — if she wants to do more than hold a seat in the back of the room at the Capitol.

And, oh yeah, she would be well-advised not to overlook Tracy Taylor, her Republican opponent in the general election. Taylor, who’d gotten nowhere running as a Democrat in a pair of local elections, made a shrewd political move when he chose to qualify for the HD 153 seat as a Republican. Being a young African American is a huge plus with the state’s GOP, as its leadership has tried to maintain control of the steadily diversifying state by projecting itself as more than the party of old, white men.

Taylor will get a lot of votes simply because many Georgians will vote a straight Republican ticket without even looking at who’s running. So while Hopson can indeed “get a little much-needed rest” in the wake of her hugely grassroots victory, her job is not finished.

That should make for an interesting lead-up to Nov. 6.

Email Carlton fletcher at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ABH_Fletcher.