Rep. Sanford Bishop faces off against Republican Chris West in Georgia's 2nd Congressional District election
- Rep. Sanford Bishop is running against Republican Chris West in Georgia's 2nd Congressional District.
- The 2nd District encompasses Georgia's southwestern corner, including Albany.
Georgia's longest serving congressman, Rep. Sanford Bishop, looks to fend off Republican Chris West in Georgia's 2nd Congressional District.
Political analysts have dubbed this race the only competitive US House race in the Deep South states of Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Georgia's 2nd Congressional District candidates
Bishop, first elected to Congress in 1992, hasn't faced much competition in the past. But in the decennial redrawing of the congressional lines, the percentage of Democratic and Black voters were reduced, making it slightly more favorable for a Republican to win the seat. This is his toughest reelection bid since 2010 when he narrowly defeated former state lawmaker Mike Keown.
In Congress, he serves on the House Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations and chairs the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
West, Bishop's challenger, is an officer with the Georgia Air National Guard, where he serves in the 116th Mission Support Group at Robins Air Force Base. Also a small businessman and attorney, West serves on the board of the United Way of Thomas County.
The Thomasville native, who is vying to unseat a longtime incumbent in the nation's 8th poorest district based on its 2018 median income, says inflation was driven by bad policy decisions. In an interview with a local news station, he said he wants to push for energy independence and strip what he calls "wasteful spending" in the Inflation Reduction Act passed this summer.
Voting history for Georgia's 2nd Congressional District
Georgia's 2nd Congressional District encompasses Georgia's southwestern corner, including Albany and parts of Macon, Columbus, and Warner Robins. It also stretches across miles of peanut fields, pine forests, and pecan groves that span 30 counties.
Joe Biden had a 12.3 percentage point margin of victory over President Donald Trump under the district's previous boundaries in 2020 before the once-in-a-decade redistricting process following the 2020 Census gave Republicans a slight edge. The new district would have had Biden winning with a 10.3-percentage-point margin.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Bishop has raised $2.8 million, spent more than $2.4 million, and has $550,000 cash on hand, as of October 19. His opponent, West, has raised $937,000, spent $729,000, and has $208,000 in cash still left to spend, as of October 19.
As of November 3, more than a dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups have together spent about $4.7 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee alone accounts for almost half that spending.
What experts say
The race between Bishop and West is rated as "likely Democratic" by The Cook Political Report, and "likely Democratic" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.