Historically, the Atlanta suburbs (particularly those suburbs to the north, northeast, and northwest of Atlanta proper) have been thought of as a Republican stronghold, and in the 1990s, the 6th Congressional district was redrawn by the Democratic legislature for former Congressman Newt Gingrich to concentrate the Republican vote in that part of the state so that north Georgia Democrats could be strengthened electorally by not having an ever increasing number of affluent (and at that time, heavily Republican) suburbanites in their districts.

As time went on, the district became more diverse, which when combined with northern/Midwestern migration due to corporate relocations diluted the near unanimous Republican sentiment of the district. This was especially apparent when the same district that supported Mitt Romney 61-38% in 2012 only voted 48-47% for Donald Trump. And when this district became open in spring 2017 due to President Trump’s selection of Congressman Tom Price to be in his cabinet, a competitive (and expensive) special election ensued that saw former Secretary of State Karen Handel only win by a 52-48% margin.

Was her narrow victory a fluke or symbolic of fundamental shifts of the district’s political preferences ? In a bipartisan and joint polling engagement conducted independently of any campaign or organization, JMC Analytics and Polling teamed up with Bold Blue Campaigns to poll two suburban Congressional districts in Atlanta (the 6th and 7th Congressional Districts of Georgia). The 7th Congressional District was polled yesterday, and today, results for the 6th Congressional District are being released.

Poll results for the 6th Congressional District of Georgia can be found here. Either John Couvillon (john@winwithjmc.com) or Steen Kirby (skirby@boldbluecampaigns.com) may be contacted about the results.