New Democratic Party of Ga. Chair hearing from citizens
The Democratic Party of Georgia elected its first fulltime chair May 3 as the party intensifies its efforts to raise funds and campaign for candidates.
Charlie Bailey, 42, has been involved in Democratic politics since college as part of the Young Democrats of the University of Georgia. He has Bachelor’s Degrees in Religion and Political Science from UGA, which is also where he earned a law degree.
The Democratic Party-elect was meeting with groups and newspaper outlets in southeast Georgia on a four-day tour which began Friday, August 8 and continued through Tuesday, August 12. He met with Head Publishing, LLC Saturday afternoon, August 9, at the Waycross Journal-Herald office for nearly two hours.
The meeting followed earlier Saturday morning interviews at the The Brunswick News and the Charlton County Herald. He still has one left with the Coastal Courier in Hinesville and Savannah Morning News.
“I’m going to be based out of Brunswick for the next few days,” said Bailey. “I have several meetings in Brunswick, Savannah and Hinesville before heading back.”
Bailey was elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia replacing Atlanta U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams causing discomfort in the party with a white man replacing a black woman. The party voted earlier to change its bylaws to say its chair would be paid and full-time, instead of the volunteer post it traditionally had been.
As a sitting member of Congress, Williams was legally barred from raising money for the party’s state campaign account. Raising money and recruiting candidates are two of the top jobs of any party chair. There also were questions about how much time Williams could devote to being a party chair while also attending to congressional duties.
Bailey grew up in Harris County outside of Columbus on a cattle farm that has been in his family for more than 100 years. He moved to the Atlanta area (Powder Springs) about 15 years ago.
He’s also worked for some of the state’s top Democrats, including in the office of Mark Taylor, the last Democrat to serve as lieutenant governor, and at the law practice of Roy Barnes, Georgia’s last Democratic governor.
“I spent four years doing mostly personal injury, representing small businesses against big corporations, individuals who were hurt, that kind of thing,” Bailey explained. “I then went to the DAs office in Fulton County and was a gang prosecutor until I ran for attorney general in 2018.”
Bailey was the Democratic nominee for attorney general (2018) and lieutenant governor candidate (2022). He captured about 49 percent of the vote in 2018 when he was defeated by Attorney General Chris Carr. His 2022 loss to now-Lt. Gov. Burt Jones was a bit larger. He got 46 percent of the votes cast that year.
“I only ask to be judged on my heart and on my work, and I think my work as a lawyer and in politics shows I have a heart for democratic values,” Bailey said. “It’s my job to make sure (citizens) know who to blame.”
Bailey said the state Democratic Party will have to win over voters by following the party’s long-held ideals for improving health care, education and the economy inequality. He pointed out Georgia’s Republican Party is failing residents because of the closure of rural hospitals (12) after the resistance of state GOP leadership to full Medicaid expansion and lagging public school ratings.
“(Republicans) will have to answer for a tanking economy fueled by tariffs, brutal federal layoffs hitting seniors, veterans, children and slashing Medicare and Medicaid,” said Bailey. “That’s what they have given us, the people of Georgia. Democrats, independents, Republicans, they have full cause to be angry about that, and we’re (Democrats) going to make sure they know what they’ve done, the choices they make, and what we stand for.
“We’ll make sure all voters know electing more Republicans in Georgia means more billionaire tax cuts, corporate giveaways, and a host of other distractions which will not reduce prices for Georgians, and we’re going to hold them accountable.”
Of the 22 rural hospitals still open today, Bailey said 18 are at risk of closure.
“That’s before the passage of this big billionaire bill which puts four of those 18 at extreme risk of closure,” he said. “They’re in places like Sandersville, Montezuma, Blue Ridge and Ocilla — not big towns. I don’t need to tell you the impact this would have in Ware County where a quarter of the population relies on Medicaid or in Brantley County or Pierce County where the number is one-fifth of the population of those two communities.
“That’s not even talking about Medicare or even talking about Social Security. This new health bill is going to put at risk the health care of 750,000 Georgians and many of those are going to be in these counties. What matters is, with the great power we’ve (citizens) been given, what are you doing about it?”
“My message to the people of the entire state, people of Ware County, Brantley County and Pierce County is you get to say something about it. (Republicans) are not in control — you are. Citizens of this great state don’t have to accept a government that spends its time and spends our tax dollars rewarding the very wealthy, that’s the alternative that we offer.” In his three months-plus time of traveling Bailey said the common thread of talking with citizens is the frustration with government, both at the state and the federal level, and the suspicion of Democratic and Republican parties.
“You have to earn credibility,” he said. “I’m not about to sit here and say everything every Democrat who’s ever been in office has done was wonderful. There is skepticism.
“Under President (Joe) Biden, there were too many Democrats who said our inflation was better than it was in Britain and better than France. It was, but it’s offensive to people to tell them something that their eyes and their wallets experience like putting gas in their vehicle or buying groceries.”
