This article was updated at 9:16 p.m.
Georgia’s senior congressman faced his toughest Republican challenger in more than a decade Tuesday as voters decided whether to give Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop a 16th term amid high inflation and low approval of President Joe Biden.
Bishop’s showdown with GOP newcomer Chris West was the only competitive U.S. House race in the Deep South after congressional maps across the region were redrawn last year to give most seats a lopsided advantage for one party or the other.
Bishop has represented southwest Georgia’s 2nd District since 1992, and the seat’s demographics still give him an edge. But recent changes to the district’s boundaries diluted the influence of Black voters, giving Republicans their best shot at Bishop since his last close election in 2010.
Bishop, a 75-year-old Black Democrat, has spent three decades cultivating a reputation as a moderate to win support among farmers and military voters in the largely rural district, which includes Albany and portions of Columbus and Macon. He argues his seniority enables him to steer more federal dollars to the district.
