Courting Republicans, Georgia Democrat Tries To Keep His Seat : NPR

For Republicans, Democrats in red states seem ripe for the picking in midterm election years, when the GOP usually has an advantage in voter turnout. One of their targets this year is Rep. John Barrow of Georgia, who faces one of the tightest races in the nation.

Barrow, often described as the “last white Democrat in Congress from the Deep South,” is trying to hold onto his seat.

Barrow tells the audience of about 60 people that even in Washington, he gets things done; he ticks off efforts to bring jobs to Georgia by promoting nuclear energy and expanding the Port of Savannah.

Barrow is comfortable here, among traditionally Democratic African-American voters. He describes himself as a Democrat in the tradition of his father, a judge known for helping to keep public schools open after desegregation. Barrow needs African-Americans to turn out on Election Day — they make up more than a third of his district. But they’re not enough to put him over the top.

University of Georgia political scientist Chuck Bullock says that’s why Barrow spends a lot of time trying to convince white Republicans in his district that he represents them.

“They see John Barrow and they go, ‘Oh, wait a minute, yeah I’m a Republican but this guy Barrow, yeah he’s pretty good,’ ” Bullock says. ” ‘He’s been to our festival, I’ve met him. He came to our high school graduation. I’m going to make an exception.’ “

via Courting Republicans, Georgia Democrat Tries To Keep His Seat : NPR.