Georgia’s 10th congressional district will be holding its Democratic primary election on May 21, where candidates Jessica Fore and Lexy Doherty will compete against each other for the chance to face incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Collins (R) in the general house election on Nov. 5.
Fore, who was born and raised in Macon, has lived in Athens for over 20 years. Having graduated from the University of Georgia in 2002, she currently works as a real estate agent in Clarke County. While she lost to Tabitha Johnson-Green in the 2022 Democratic primary, she believes her cultural upbringing gives her an advantage in this year’s race. (Johnson-Green, who had won the Democratic nomination for the past three election cycles in GA-10, is not on the ballot for this year.) As an evangelical Christian with an extensive background in ministry work, Fore is used to forming relationships with people who are culturally conservative in the state. Because of these connections, Fore says she is uniquely positioned to persuade crossover voters, disaffected conservatives, independents and people who don’t typically show up to vote for Democrats.
Competing against Fore is Doherty, an educational consultant and appointed member of the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission. Originally from Chapin, SC, Doherty grew up working at her family-owned business and witnessed the grave repercussions of the 2008 financial crisis on her community. She thought it was unjust how local small businesses were forced to close, eventually turning into corporate storefronts. After moving to Athens in 2018 to complete her master’s degree at UGA, she says that she saw the need for a strong Democratic candidate to represent the interests of GA-10, which is why she decided to run for Congress.
“Democracy works best when we have everyone’s voice represented… to me, that is bringing in people across race, across gender, across religion,” Doherty says. “There’s so much that we could get done even though we are not 100% aligned on everything.”
Due to her personal experiences, Doherty is focusing on promoting rural economic development and fighting against corporate lobbyists. If elected, her top priorities include raising minimum wage to at least $15, passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, limiting gerrymandering and advocating for environmental stewardship. She also highlights the importance of lowering costs for housing, food and health care, disappointed at past representatives who have ignored the widening gap between productivity and wages.
Like Fore, Doherty is focused on building coalitions across rural and urban Georgia communities. Her inclusive approach welcomes discourse from people of all political and social backgrounds. With over 20 team members and organizers throughout the district, Doherty sees strength in grassroots outreach.
If elected to the House, Fore says her priorities would differ depending on the outcome of the upcoming presidential race. Facing another Trump presidency, Congress must focus on preserving basic democratic norms, like fair elections. In the event of another Biden presidency, issues affecting working class people would take precedence, such as promoting universal healthcare, livable wages and affordable housing. Fore says that working class struggles present the biggest obstacle to GA-10, especially when it comes to the cost of living, because wages have failed to keep up with the cost of housing and groceries, hindering even those working full-time from accessing basic necessities.
Moreover, Fore says that systematically, it would be beneficial for political discourse to contain more than two extreme, polarized sides. For this reason, she supports the ideas of ranked choice voting, open primaries and expanded ballot access beyond the two parties.
“Most Americans want an opportunity for more expressive voting and participation in the political process,” Fore says. “We need people who are operating in good faith and who can’t be bought and sold by special interests.”
In the wake of the Dobbs Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion will be a critical issue for many voters. The two Democratic candidates have similar policy stances, but different personal views on the subject.
“Not legally, but personally, spiritually, morally, I’m deeply opposed to elective late-term abortions,” Fore says. But she supports the Democratic position on abortion: “We’re going to allow it to be legal, we’re not going to intervene in health care decisions between women and their doctors, but we do want health care access, we want birth control and sex education, so that people can be equipped to prevent unplanned pregnancies.” This will actually reduce abortions, she says.
“I don’t think we can say we live in a free country if we can’t make decisions about our own bodies,” says Doherty. “To me, this should be a fundamental human right.”
The larger issue, though, is lack of access to health care, she says. According to Doherty, eight of the 20 counties in District 10—spanning from Commerce to Eatonton—do not have an OBGYN. This is related to Georgia’s high maternal mortality rate, especially among Black women, Doherty says.
Doherty says she would like to see a Constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights, but recognizes that it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. If Biden wins and Democrats win the House and retain the Senate, she says she would push to codify Roe into law.
Neither candidate is likely to unseat Collins, who defeated Johnson-Green by 29 points two years ago. Republican state legislators drew the district to strongly favor the GOP, and outside of liberal Athens it mostly consists of deep-red rural and exurban areas.
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