GARY WISENBAKER: Democrats shouldn’t pop the champagne corks yet

Democrats are breaking out the bubbly after sweeping gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and flipping both Public Service Commission seats in Georgia. But before they get too giddy, they might want to check the math. Because the numbers tell a much less glamorous story.

Let’s start with turnout. In New Jersey, only about 54% of registered voters showed up. In Virginia, turnout was roughly 53%. And in Georgia, turnout didn’t crack 22%, according to the Secretary of State’s website. That’s right: Less than one in four registered Georgians bothered to vote.

Now, here’s where the Democrats’ celebration falls flat. In Georgia, the Democrats won both PSC races, Alicia Johnson in District 2 and Peter Hubbard in District 3, each with about 63% of the vote. That sounds impressive until you do the real math.

If turnout was 22% of registered voters, and the winner got 63% of that, then these candidates were elected by less than 14% of Georgia’s registered voters. So those “big Democratic wins” in Georgia were delivered by only 14% of registered voters. That’s not a mandate. That’s a minority slice of the electorate, barely one out of six Georgians giving them the nod.

The story isn’t much better up north. In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli with roughly 57% of the vote. With 54% turnout, that means that Sherrill was put in by only 31% of New Jersey’s registered voters. So even in deep-blue New Jersey, Sherrill’s “resounding victory” represents less than one-third of all registered voters.

Virginia tells the same tale. Democrat Abigail Spanberger cruised past Republican Winsome Earle-Sears with 57.35% of the vote on a 53.3% turnout. Same story here, as the Democrat was put in office by less than 31% of Virginia’s eligible voters.

So Democrats swept three states, but their winners were elected by somewhere between 17% and 31% of the people eligible to vote. That’s not a groundswell. That’s voter apathy wrapped in a blue bow.

But you wouldn’t know that listening to the national Democratic leadership. Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are already hailing these races as a “rejection of Republican extremism.”

Please.

The truth is, Democrats didn’t win because America suddenly turned left. They won because millions stayed home. And some of that disengagement was deliberately engineered. For weeks leading up to the election, Senate Democrats held the federal government hostage with a filibuster over a health care spending package they claimed was “for the people.” It wasn’t. It was for their base.

They used the filibuster not to legislate, but to agitate and to keep their base angry and motivated just long enough to get through Election Day. The “health care” justification was a hoax. Within days of the Nov. 4 elections, Democrats ended the filibuster and passed a watered-down deal they could have taken weeks earlier. Nothing changed in the final bill except the calendar.

In the meantime, their stall tactics froze federal paychecks, delayed SNAP benefits, denied air traffic controllers and military families their pay, and rattled the economy. All for what? Two utility commission seats in Georgia and a couple of governorships they already expected to win? That’s not leadership — it’s political cynicism dressed up as principle.

The filibuster has a legitimate place in the Senate. It’s a brake pedal, not a brick wall. It should never be used to shut down the government or harm working families. When it becomes a campaign weapon, when senators use it to starve out programs, interrupt paychecks, or stir up outrage for electoral advantage, it’s not democracy, it’s dysfunction.

The takeaway? Democrats built a mirage, not momentum on Nov. 4. Their victories came
not from the masses, but from the margins. And when your so-called mandate is built on 17 to 31% of the electorate, it can vanish as quickly as it appeared.

Before the Democrats start popping corks and measuring the drapes for 2026, they might remember that you can’t govern effectively on a glass of champagne and a sliver of the vote.

Gary Wisenbaker is currently a Realtor with Century 21 Realty Advisors in Valdosta and can be reached at (912) 713- 2553 or online at [email protected].