Running head: BECOMING AN INFORMED VOTER ASSIGNMENT 1
Research Paper: Becoming an Informed Voter Assignment
Student’s First Name, Middle Initial (s), Last Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code and Title
Instructor’s Name
Assignment’s Due Date
BECOMING AN INFORMED VOTER ASSIGNMENT 2
Becoming an Informed Voter Assignment
In U.S. history and politics, elections of American representatives have played an integral
role in American history (Cohen et al., 2019). The U.S. political system, according to many
Americans, is dysfunctional and irrational beyond repair. Despite passing the Voting Rights Act
of 1965, American voters still experience vote suppression as states put barriers like restricting
registration and imposing strict voter ID laws in front of the ballot box. As such, exercising the
right to vote as citizens has been one of our most influential powers in American history
(Goggin, Henderson, & Theodoridis, 2020). Nevertheless, this power comes with a civic duty to
consider the alternatives and make critically informed decisions, especially when electing
representatives to office. In today’s fast-paced society, it is becoming challenging to remain an
informed citizen voter without spending hours reading through journals to find accurate and
reliable data (Goggin, Henderson, & Theodoridis, 2020). With that said, the research paper will
analyze the political background of my congressional district and state for the last 25 years,
including the investigation of Georgia State senator and U.S. Representative.
The Political History in the Last 25 Years
Georgia's 1st congressional district is a district in Georgia State that is currently
represented by Buddy Carter (January 3, 2015-present), a Republican member. As of 2019, it had
a total population of 749,949. Joseph Webber was the 1st Democrat member to win the 1st
congressional district of Georgia on March 4, 1850. The politics of Georgia change frequently.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the state is represented by 14 elected representatives and
has two senators (Cohen et al., 2019). Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is currently the senator of Georgia
from January 20, 2021, to 2026 next elections. The Democratic Party has predominately ruled
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Georgia State for many decades. For centuries, Republicans were minorities in Georgia.
However, the Republican Party started making inroads in the state in 1964, starting with the
Presidential bid of Barry Goldwater. By 2007, Republicans had become the dominant force in
Georgia elections. As the political ideologies of the Republican and Democratic parties shifted in
the 20th century, the politicians of Georgia State moved to the Republican Party (Sichinava,
2020). As a result, in 2002, Sonny Perdue was elected as the 1st republican governor of Georgia
since 1872. The state became a competitive swing state in the late 2010s and early 2020s, with
Democrats taking small victories in all the statewide 2020 federal elections.
Furthermore, the U.S. state of Georgia had not voted for a Democratic president since
1992 when Bill Clinton won by 43.47% against George W. Bush with 42.88%. It’s been nearly
30 years now. Since 1964, all the Electoral College votes in Georgia have been given to the
Republican candidates. In 1976, Jimmy Carter won a presidential seat to become the 39th
President of the U.S. after winning his home state votes. In 2000 and 2004, George W. Bush, a
Republican, won by double digits with 54.76% and 57.97%, respectively, of the vote (Cohen et
al., 2019). This made George W. Bush the only Republican presidential candidate to carry the
state twice. Republican John McCain won Georgia by a 5% vote margin against Democrat
Barack Obama by 52% and 47% in 2008 (Sichinava, 2020). Also, Mitt Romney won the state in
2012 against Barack Obama with 53% to 45%, respectively. In addition, Donald Trump defeated
Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential elections with 51% to 46%. With this information, the
Georgia State usually lean more towards the side of the Republican Party.
The Political Parties Relatively Even, or Does One Party Dominate the Elections
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From the past 25 years of general outcomes obtained from Georgia State elections, the
Republican Party has dominated the Democratic Party for decades, but the state tends to be
liberal. From the early 1900s to the 2000s, the U.S. representatives from Georgia were
represented by Democratic Party. However, in the 2000s, the Republican Party has been leading
in the U.S. House of Representatives by 17 seats against nine seats of the Democratic Party.
Currently, there are only 6 Democratic representatives against eight Republican representatives
to the U.S. House of Representatives (Cohen et al., 2019). Consequently, the two U.S. senators
from Georgia State are Democrats.
Contrary to this, Georgia State is currently becoming a competitive swing state for the
first time in many years after casting more votes for President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential
elections against Donald Trump (Clayton, 2019). As the political landscape changes, Georgia's
prolonged Republican stronghold state is starting to favour Democrats with Senator Ossoff's and
President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 elections. Therefore, the long considered Republican
stronghold state is now a swing state for both Democrats and Republicans. Furthermore, Georgia
State has a long tradition of supporting one political party, i.e., the Republican Party. Since 1948,
Republicans have won the state's presidential electoral votes ten times while Democrats have
won 9 times. Nevertheless, Democrats have only won the state twice in the past ten presidential
elections, 1992 and 2020. Republican Party has been a dominate-party regime in Georgia State.
Georgia is currently moving towards blue as the state becomes a swing state.
Political Background of the U.S. Representative and Senator in Georgia State
As an American Republican, Earl “Buddy” Carter was born in Port Wentworth, Georgia
State on September 6, 1957. Carter is a Republican Party member. From 1989 to 1993, he served
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on the planning and zoning commission and from 1994 to 1995 on Pooler’s city council. From
1996 to 2004, Carter served as Pooler’s mayor. In 2005, Carter served two terms from 2006 to
2010 as the 1st elected state legislature in the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2009, Buddy
was elected to the state senate (Cohen et al., 2019). In 2014, he gave up the seat to run for
Congress and defeated Bob Johnson with 53% of the vote in the runoff. Buddy Carter came into
power on November 4, 2014, when he won the U.S. House Representative in general for the 1st
Congressional District of Georgia by defeating Brain Reese by 60.91% votes to 39.09%
(DeLuca, Rejections & Rates, 2020). On November 3, 2020, the incumbent Earl Carter also won
the U.S. House Georgia District 1 seat by defeating Joyce Marie Griggs with 58.3% votes against
41.7% votes in the general election.
Thomas Jonathan Ossoff is an American politician born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February
16, 1987. He is a Democratic Party member. From 2007-2012, Jon was a legislative assistant for
foreign affairs and defense policy. From 2013 to 2021, he served as CEO of Insight TWI,
producer of investigations of war crimes and anti-corruption investigations, and investigative
journalist. On January 5, 2021, he won the U.S. Senate and took an oath to office on January 20,
2021, as an elected Democrat. Ossoff won in the general elections Georgia runoff by defeating
Republican David Perdue with a close margin of 50.6% votes to 49.4% votes (Handel & Ossoff,
2021). Therefore, this made Ossoff and Raphael Warnock be the first Democrats to win Senate
seats since 2000 in the State of Georgia, as well as the youngest first Jewish senator from
Georgia at the age of 34.
Legislation Sponsored or Co-sponsored by Jon Ossoff and Earl Carter
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In the last four years, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff has sponsored 17 legislation and co-
sponsored 109 legislation. Some of these examples include the Prison Camera Act of 2021, the
Right to Vote Act, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Enforcement Act, the Cybersecurity
Opportunity Act, the Voters' Access to Water Act, Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, and
Public Transportation Expansion Act, etc. On the other hand, U.S. Representative Earl Carter has
sponsored and co-sponsored also several legislation. Some of them include the Improving the
Health of Children Act, Pausing Enhanced Pandemic Pathogen Research Act of 2021, IT’s
Codification Act, Advancing Facial Recognition Technology Act, Empowering Law
Enforcement Act of 2021, Stop Vaccine Mandates Act, and HELP Copays Act, etc. Yes, when
running for office, Jon Ossoff included the legislation in the platform. Jon stated that he would
make health insurance affordable, accessible and straightforward. He also introduces the "Right
to Vote" Act in the Senate to protect American citizens from policies restricting them from
casting a ballot. Earl Carter primarily sponsored nine enacted legislations, which he put on the
platform during campaigns. Concerning the legislation of Stop Vaccine Mandates Act and Death
Penalty Act, they align with the following scriptures. The Bible teaches that “thou shalt not kill”
(Deuteronomy 5:17). The scriptures say, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). "I
know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that
esteemed anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." (Romans 14:14).
How do the Interest Groups - ADA, ACLU, ACU, and CC (or FRC) – Rate the
Representative and Senator?
Based on Vote Smart website (Link), Earl ‘Buddy’ Carter is rated by the following
interest groups as follows: American Conservative Union (ACU) 90% as of 2019; Family
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Research Council (FRC) Action 100% as of 2020; Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) 0%
as of 2019 ratings and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 0% as of 2021 ratings. For Jon
Ossoff’s ratings (Link) include the following ACLU 100% as of 2021. NB/ Jon Ossoff is not
rated by other interest groups yet.
Liberal or Conservative Based on Ratings
Based on the Interest Groups ratings, I would classify Earl “Buddy” Carter as a liberal
person. This is because he believes that the federal government should be active in supporting
political and social change. He supports and promotes human rights and liberties. As a
pharmacist for over 30 years, Buddy has continued to oppose the Affordable Care Act of 2008
and works hard to eliminate it. On the contrary, I would classify Jon Ossoff as a conservative
person. This is because Jon Ossoff is more focused on addressing economic issues and
promoting conservative principles such as improving the tax code for businesses.
How Congressional Delegation Does or Does Not Reflect My Values
Conclusively, this congressional delegation reflects my values of integrity, transparency,
openness, and determination. They have helped bring more financial aids to assist thousands of
Americans who need assistance from the government. Also, they are open to debate about the
economic crisis facing citizens and ways of solving them. The congressional delegation has also
demonstrated the value of determination to see all Americans living the American Dream.
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References
Clayton, J. L. (2019, July). What Makes a State Swing?. In Proceedings of the 13th International
RAIS Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (pp. 149-161). Scientia Moralitas
Research Institute.
Cohen, R. E., Barnes, J. A., Cook, C., Barone, M., Jacobson, L., & Peck, L. F. (2019). The
Almanac of American Politics 2020: Members of Congress and Governors: Their
Profiles and Election Results, Their States and Districts. Columbia Books & Information
Services, National Journal.
DeLuca, K., Rejections, A. B., & Rates, C. L. R. (2020). Georgia Primary Election
Analysis. Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project, 15, 2020-10.
Handel, K., & Ossoff, J. (2021, January). The 2017 Runoff in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional
District. In Special Elections: The Backdoor Entrance to Congress (p. 63). Oxford
University Press.
Goggin, S. N., Henderson, J. A., & Theodoridis, A. G. (2020). What goes with red and blue?
Mapping partisan and ideological associations in the minds of voters. Political
Behavior, 42(4), 985-1013.
Sichinava, D. (2020). 6. Elections, Political Parties, and Social Change in Georgia, 2003–2018.
In Georgia (pp. 145-168). University of Toronto Press.
https://www.congress.gov/member/jon-
ossoff/O000174?q=%7B%22sponsorship%22%3A%22sponsored%22%7D
https://buddycarter.house.gov/legislation/sponsoredbills.htm
