Why the Sexiest Races Keep Costing Democrats the Ones That Matter

If you grew up in Georgia politics, you know names like Ben Fortson, Tommy Irvin, and Zell Miller weren’t just officeholders, they were institutions. They built trust, shaped policy, and anchored the Democratic brand in every corner of the state. Their strength came from something simple: down‑ballot offices mattered, and the party treated them that way.

Somewhere along the way, that balance shifted. In recent years, Democrats in Georgia have poured most of their energy, money, and attention into the “big” races... Governor, U.S. Senate, President — while the offices that touch people’s daily lives have been left running on fumes. It wasn’t intentional, but it’s had consequences.

Here’s how we got here.

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The National Spotlight Pulled Everything Upward

Once Georgia became competitive at the federal level, national groups flooded the state with money and organizers. And when national money shows up, it goes straight to the top of the ticket.  

- Senate races became multi‑million‑dollar spectacles.  

- Presidential cycles turned Georgia into a national battleground.  

- Donors and volunteers followed the noise.

Down‑ballot candidates, the ones who actually shape agriculture policy, utilities, education oversight, and local governance, were left trying to build campaigns with pocket change.

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A Weak Party Infrastructure Made the Problem Worse

After Democrats lost the Governor’s office in 2002, the party spent years fractured and underfunded. Grassroots groups did most of the rebuilding, but the institutional muscle that once supported candidates up and down the ballot never fully returned.

When your foundation is shaky, you chase the races that attract the most attention. That meant the top of the ticket got the spotlight, while the rest of the ballot got whatever was left.

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Voters Lost Sight of What Down‑Ballot Offices Actually Do

Georgia’s ballot is long, and many voters don’t know what the Public Service Commission does or why the Agriculture Commissioner matters.  

If voters don’t understand the office, they don’t prioritize it.  

If they don’t prioritize it, donors don’t either.  

And if donors don’t, campaigns can’t build.

It’s a cycle that feeds itself.

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The Cost of Running Statewide Skyrocketed

Modern statewide campaigns cost more than ever. Big donors want “impact per dollar,” and national groups want races that shift federal power. That leaves down‑ballot candidates who often need just a fraction of the resources struggling to get noticed.

Ironically, these are the races where a little investment can flip entire policy areas for a decade.

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Success at the Top Reinforced the Imbalance

When Democrats flipped Georgia in 2020 and won the Senate runoffs in 2021, the national narrative became simple:

Georgia = federal battleground.

That narrative brought even more money and attention to the top of the ticket, while the offices that shape everyday life... utilities, agriculture, labor, education, insurance stayed in the shadows.

Even recent Democratic wins on the Public Service Commission didn’t break through the noise the way they should have.

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The Bottom Line

Georgia Democrats didn’t devalue down‑ballot races on purpose. They got swept into a nationalized political environment where:

- Money flows upward  

- Media attention flows upward  

- Organizing flows upward  

- And the party’s infrastructure wasn’t strong enough to counterbalance it  

But the lesson from Fortson, Irvin, Miller, and every other Georgia giant is still true today:

Real power is built from the bottom up.  

Not from the sexiest race on the ballot but from the ones that shape how people live, work, farm, drive, and pay their bills.

If Democrats want long‑term success in Georgia, the path runs straight through the down‑ballot. 

Sedrick Rowe Isn’t Running a Typical Agriculture Commissioner Race

Most candidates for Georgia Agriculture Commissioner stay in a familiar lane, farm tours, commodity talk, and the same recycled issues that rarely break through with everyday voters. Sedrick Rowe isn’t doing that. His campaign is forcing conversations the agriculture industry usually pushes to the margins, and that alone makes his candidacy worth paying attention to.

Rowe isn’t the most polished speaker, and he doesn’t pretend to be. What he brings instead is lived experience: a first‑generation farmer who has dealt with land access, credit barriers, and the realities young producers face. That authenticity resonates with people who rarely see themselves reflected in statewide agriculture politics.

And that’s where his potential impact shows up.

He Speaks to First‑Generation Farmers. Georgia has a growing number of new and beginning farmers , many of them young, many of them operating outside traditional commodity structures. They don’t usually have a candidate who talks about their challenges directly. Rowe does.

He Connects With Younger Voters. Younger voters don’t think much about the Agriculture Commissioner’s office, but they respond to candidates who look like the future of the industry rather than its past. Rowe’s story hits that note.

He Reaches Suburban Voters Who Don’t Track Ag Politics. Suburban voters often skip past this race entirely. But when a candidate talks about food access, environmental health, and the real‑world impact of agriculture policy, it gives those voters a reason to pay attention. Rowe’s message crosses that line in a way most Ag candidates don’t attempt.

Sedrick Rowe isn’t running a traditional Agriculture Commissioner campaign a

nd that’s exactly why people should take him seriously. He’s bringing new voices into a race that usually flies under the radar, and that alone changes the conversation. 

Can Winfred Dukes put a "W" in the win column for State Democrats?

It's no secret that the Democratic Party has been bleeding voters over the past decade in rural Georgia. In 2010 Georgia voters elected Republican, now Senate candidate Gary Black over then State Senator J.B. Powell, another Conservative Democrat to succeed longtime Agriculture Commissioner, the late Tommy Irvin, a Conservative Democrat from Northeast Georgia who was appointed by then Governor Lester Maddox in 1969 who Tom Baxter coined as the last Democrat out the door following his retirement in 2010. Irvin's grandson Chris Irvin ran in 2014, losing to Gary Black.

Now comes Winfred Dukes, a centrist Democratic State Representative from Southwest Georgia (Albany), the heart of Georgia Agriculture. He served over two decades in the Georgia house. He gives the Democrats best chance at winning this crucial post. But he must get past the Democratic primary where two other candidate are vying for the nomination. Dukes comes from the Roy Barnes-Mark Taylor-Michael Thirmond wing of the Democratic party that still carry some influence despite the new, progressive wing led by Stacey Abrams.In many states, the position carries significant authority. In 40 states, according to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, agriculture departments oversee the animal industry; in about half of states, they oversee food safety and meat inspection. In 48 states, they determine what qualifies as "organic," while in 43 states they regulate pesticides. Over the past decade, growing Republican strength further down the ballot here in Georgia, combined with attrition among long-serving, conservative Democrats incumbents has helped the GOP win lower state offices and increased opportunities for the types of rural Republicans who can seriously contest the position of agriculture commissioner.

The GOP has also focused more attention on agriculture offices, partnering with the Republican Agriculture Commissioners Committee and Ag America, a group that works to elect qualified Republican candidates to the position.

What's more, Democratic electoral and bench strength here in Georgia is concentrated in cities and suburbs, where it’s hard to become a credible candidate for agriculture commissioner. Two Democrats running for Ag Commissioner, Nakita Hemingway and Fred Swann hail from the metro Atlanta area. Besides, rural voters feel they have more at stake in voting for agriculture commissioner than urban voters do ans that my friends is a fact!

These days the GOP has no shortage of qualified candidates here in Georgia with agricultural backgrounds, while Democrats have tapped a mix of farmers, agriculture policy experts, civil servants and the occasional rural lawmaker for the post. Can Dukes break the Democratic drought? 

Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin Endorses Sanford Bishop for Re-election

Albany Herald is reporting that Longtime Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, who is retiring has endorsed Sanford Bishop.

Irvin said, Bishop was there pushing back each time folks in Washington tried to balance the nation’s budget on the backs of farmers, when (folks in Washington) attempted to end the compensation to cotton and peanut farmers for storage costs, and when (folks in Washington) held back on selling crops until they could net better market rates,” Irvin,a Democrat, said in his letter of endorsement. “I don’t even want to think where we would be without his work on the various farm bills

Irvin’s endorsement is just the latest for Bishop. According to the release from Bishop’s campaign, the nine-term congressman previously earned endorsements from the National Rifle Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans’ Vision, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the Georgia Association of Educators, former U.S. Drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey, along with three former Commanding Generals at Fort Benning — Major General Jerry White, Major General Kenneth Leuer and Major General Carmen Cavezza.

“Tommy is the Georgia Farmer’s best friend, and I am very happy to have him support me,” Bishop said of Irvin. “Agriculture is the heartbeat of our state’s economy. It does me good knowing that such a leader in the farming community as Commissioner Irvin recognizes that I am doing all I can in Washington to make sure Georgia’s pulse remains strong.”

In related news, Bishop’s campaign announced that he will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. today at 2 at the Dougherty County Courthouse, where his campaign says area state and local elected officials will announce their support for the congressman’s re-election bid.

JB Powell TV Spot with Outgoing Ag Commissioner Tommy Irvin

Tommy Irvin, you sold out my friend!

Tommy Irvin has sold out Georgia Family Farmers to Gary Black & his big Ag & Lobbyist friends.

Retiring Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin has made his choice for Ag Commissioner & its not the family farmer JB Powell from Richmond County.......its the Big Ag Lobbyist Gary Black who challenged Irvin back in 2006 for the same job.

Here's what Irvin said: It’s a big job, a big department with a lot of people. He’s going to need some help,” said Irvin. And then he added: "I think he’s going to win."

FYI: Black used to be a democrat util he changed parties to run against Irvin in 2006, in which Irvin was very critical of during that time.

Like many Georgians I am concerned what may happen if Gary Black is elected as the next GA Ag Commissioner. Folks says Gary Black is the best qualified and most experienced candidate. BUT! He is supported by the same companies the GA Agriculture Commissioner is charged with regulating like Monsanto for example. How closely do you think he would be watching over these large agribusiness companies that back him and finance his campaign. He is strictly for large Agribusiness and food processing type companies instead of the GA farmer.

Im disappointed that Irvin would sell out Georgia Family & Independent farmers to Gary Black & his big business cronies.

Powell has run a flawless campaign thus far, unveiling new & innovative ways to improve on Georgia Agriculture & to bring horse racing to the state as well that in effect create jobs for Georgia's struggling economy. He has picked up significant crossover support from republicans including the endorsement from Darwin Carter, who worked in the Reagan Administration at the USDA.

Everyone has already given this race to Black, but I for one think this race is right there for Powell.

After 41 Years, Tommy Irvin Will be Stepping Down as Agriculture Commissioner after the Elections

Georgia politicians come and go, but for more than four decades Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin has remained.

He's a walking 6-foot-5-inch storybook of Southern farming and politics. He was born to sharecroppers who bartered for what they couldn't produce, yet he regulated the massive industrial farms that make Georgia agriculture a $7 billion industry. The 80-year-old remained a loyal Democrat even as his party fractured over civil rights and Republicans swept into power.

Appointed by a segregationist governor, Irvin's career flowed easily into a new political era. He will finally step down in January after nearly 42 years in office, making him Georgia's longest-serving agriculture commissioner and among the longest-serving statewide officials in the nation.

"If you've been in office as long as I have, you're old news," said Irvin, who decided to step down because of a combination of age and the effects of Parkinson's disease. The illness sometimes leaves him unable to speak above a whisper.

Irvin was first appointed agriculture commissioner by Gov. Lester Maddox in 1969 after the Democratic incumbent quit the party and joined President Richard Nixon's Republican administration. A local newspaper editorial advised Irvin to just keep the seat warm.

Instead, he won the next election in 1970 and repeated that feat nine more times. Supporters praised Irvin for supporting campaigns to eradicate the boll weevil that once ate entire cotton fields, controlling livestock diseases like heart cholera in pigs and serving as a tireless salesmen for Georgia agriculture.

But his last years were marred by two serious outbreaks of salmonella poisoning, including a 2009 outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more. The contamination was traced to a peanut processing plant in Blakely. Inspectors for Irvin's department found only minor violations there, but a federal team identified roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitation problems.

In a recent interview, Irvin was unsure if any food producers had reported positive tests for salmonella under a new law he personally championed. And he was stumped when asked to describe the biggest shifts in farming during his tenure.

"I'm not sure," he said.

Waterloo peanut farmer Don Register, 71, questioned whether Irvin should have stayed in the job. He faults Irvin's department for failing to prevent the salmonella outbreak, a scare that Register said brought the value of peanuts down from $550 per ton to around $425.

"The demand, it just fell flat," Register said. "The business just about stopped completely."

Three candidates are competing for Irvin's seat. Republican Gary Black, a beef farmer and past president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, ran against Irvin in 2006 but lost. He took about 40 percent of the vote, and had roughly $220,000 in campaign funds by late March. His opponent in a July 20 primary will be GOP candidate Darwin Carter, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official who had nearly $600 in cash on hand.

Democrat J.B. Powell recently left his state Senate seat to run for Irvin's job. He has not yet been required to disclose his fundraising. Irvin has not endorsed anyone in the race, although Democratic leaders expect he will be offering financial support to the party.

Regardless of who wins the next election, the departure of Irvin will mark a generational shift.

Irvin was raised by sharecroppers and grew his own cotton patch as a child. When his father died in a sawmill accident, Irvin dropped out of school at age 15 to help provide for his family. His mom remarried, but Irvin stayed in the lumber business.

"The kinds of farms that I talked about when I was a lad do not exist in Georgia or anywhere else that I know of," Irvin said.

Elected a state lawmaker, he caught the eye of Lester Maddox, a politician infamous for closing his Atlanta restaurant rather than serve black customers. Maddox was elected governor, and Irvin became his executive assistant. Maddox appointed Irvin to become the state's next agriculture commissioner when the incumbent, Phil Campbell, quit the Democratic Party.

"He was never a racist, but he was a staunch segregationist," Irvin said of Maddox. "And it's hard for some people to understand the difference."

Zippy Duvall, president of the Georgia Farm Bureau, credits Irvin with advocating for more agriculture research, opening up new markets overseas and controlling the pests that severely curtailed the state's cotton industry.

"He has fought hard to make sure we control any diseases that might cross the state lines and has spent a lifetime doing that," Duvall said.

During his tenure, Irvin opened a trade bureau in Brussels and led an agriculture delegation to Cuba in 2000 in the hopes of boosting trade for Georgia, the nation's largest poultry producer. He met Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. He plans to make a similar trip to Cuba this summer.

"The meat of choice here is white meat," said Irvin, who thinks a trade embargo against Cuba should be lifted. "The meat of choice in Cuba is dark meat. And chicken has both."

He's ruled out working as a lobbyist after leaving office. He recently asked his Baptist pastor for advice on what to do after leaving state service.

Chris Irvin to run for HD 28

Commissioner Tommy Irvin, who is retiring as Georgia's Agricluture Commissioner will host a fundraiser for Chris Irvin for HD 28, which was formerly held by State Rep. Jeanette Jamieson (D-Toccoa), who was defeated by Michael Harden (R) back in 2008.

The event is sponsered by: State Reps:

DuBose Porter
Calvin Smyre
Kathy Ashe
Carolyn Hughley
Nikki Randall
Don Wix
Stephanie Stuckey-Benfield
Stacy Abrams
James Irvin
Rachel Irvin
Jeanette Jamieson

It will be held at Manuel's Tavern on 4/26/2010 at 5:30

Irvin is related to Commissioner Tommy Irvin

AG Commissioner Tommy Irvin announces recall.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin is alerting consumers to the recall by Alternative Baking Company, Inc. of Sacramento, Calif. of several types of chocolate chip cookies with code dates of 015 through 036 stamped on the fold of the cellophane package in black

The chips appear to contain milk and have caused reactions in a few children who are highly allergic to milk according to reports to the company from parents of the affected children. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume these products.

The cookies are wrapped and sold individually in retail stores and on the company web site. All of the cookies have date codes 015 through 036 and are 4.25 ounces each. The names of the cookies and the UPC codes are listed below.

• Colossal Chocolate Chip 703741 000178
• Explosive Espresso Chocolate Chip 703741 001014
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip 703741 000635
• Double Chocolate Decadence 703741 000628
• Mac the Chip 703741 000352

Consumers may return the cookies with codes 015 through 036 to the place of purchase for a refund or exchange or mail their cookies with the proper codes to Alternative Baking Co., 3914 Kristi Court, Sacramento, CA 95827.

Officials defend plant inspectors

Georgia's top agriculture officials on Tuesday defended the state's inspection process at a legislative hearing called to address the salmonella outbreak traced to a Georgia peanut processing plant.

The process came under fire after a state inspector found only minor problems when she probed the Blakely plant in October for less than two hours. Less than three months later, federal agents found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other problems.

Terry Coleman, Georgia's deputy agriculture commissioner, told House lawmakers that no amount of regulation will deter people who are intent on violating state laws.

"If a person intends to break the rules, unless you have somebody standing
over that person from the time they get to work from the time they leave, there
is no way to prevent that," Mr. Coleman said. "And in this particular case we
believe that somebody in the plant intended to break the rules or break the
laws. All the inspections we could muster couldn't prevent that."

Still, lawmakers responded to the outbreak by passing legislation that would make Georgia the first state to require that food makers swiftly alert state inspectors if their internal tests show their products are tainted. That proposal is awaiting Gov. Sonny Perdue's signature.

Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said such legislation would have "been impossible to pass" before the outbreak.

The remarks came at a meeting of the House Consumer Protection Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee, whose members seemed to agree with Mr. Coleman's assessment.

"We had a bad apple there," said state Rep. Ellis Black, D-Valdosta. "And no amount of inspections is going to prevent a disaster."

The best choice for dems: Terry Coleman for Ag Commissioner.

Terry Coleman (D-Eastman) is the deputy agriculture commissioner of Georgia, serving under Tommy Irvin (D-Mt. Airy) who will retire in 2010. Coleman is believed to be the frontrunner to run in place of Tommy Irvin in 2010. Coleman is from Dodge County in Central Georgia who served in the State Legislature from 1972 to 2005. In addition, he was speaker of the house from 2002 to 2004. I am endorsing Coleman for Agriculture Commissioner because he can continue the outstanding work of Tommy Irvin & he can continue to keep Georgia as the leader of Agriculture in the U.S. His rural roots & downhome conservatism makes him the best candidate for a position that is focused in food safety, food quality, protection of all the farmers of crops, plants, livestock & the unantcipated loss from natural disasters or otherwise. By him being from rural Georgia, he can get votes of farmers. ranchers, as well from rural voters who are moderate to conservative on various issues. He can maintain & inherit Irvin's network of supporters across the state is a reason I have endorsed Coleman. Although he hasn't announced whether or not he will seek the seat he have my upmost support if he does run, which I think he will.