ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — Early voting in Dougherty County increased 11%, which was higher than the increase in some surrounding counties, political analyst, Aaron Johnson, said.

Johnson said official numbers from Tuesday’s (Nov. 3) election were not yet available, but early voting numbers were. He said the increase in Dougherty County was higher than in Lee and Worth counties.

“So certainly that played a role,” Johnson said.

Governor’s race results

During an interview, WALB’s Ashanti Drake said Keisha Lance Bottoms had 54% of the votes and Rick Jackson had 45%. Drake asked whether the results reflected lower turnout among Republicans or more people voting Democratic.

Johnson said the party that’s governing traditionally loses seats in midterm elections.

“I think you had a lot of registered voters who would not have traditionally gone out to vote, but were angered due to cost-of-living concerns and also being in a war that they thought was going to be over quickly or were never in favor of the war in the first place,” Johnson said.

Young voters and affordability

Johnson said young voters are a group to watch.

“I think a lot of young voters are concerned about, will they be able to afford a home? They have high debt coming from college, and also they’re concerned about the war and not wanting to fight in this war,” Johnson said.

Role of social media

Drake asked whether social media played a part in young voters turning out compared with other years.

“Absolutely, and when it comes to social media, that’s the one way you need to engage our young voters,” Johnson said. “And I think Keisha Lance Bottoms was very effective in that. And I think, in general, when we look at the GOP, they’ve been less effective in utilizing social media to reach young people.”

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