海角大神

Amid honking horns and kids waving 鈥淰ote Your Ossoff鈥� signs, Lisa Duncan relishes the excitement driving Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, to a commanding lead in a district that Republicans have owned since the 1970s.

鈥淛on is a really positive guy, and he鈥檚 part of a movement to get smart people in that are sincere, conscientious, and want to stay with the party,鈥� says Ms. Duncan, a local activist. 鈥淪o, not negative 鈥� that鈥檚 what we really need.鈥�

As she talks, a lot of drivers honk, their thumbs up; a man in a pick-up truck boos, his thumb down.

Duncan is one of thousands of anxious Georgian Democrats in search of hope at the ballot box. She says she has found it in Mr. Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker whose name recognition has skyrocketed as the stakes have risen here in Atlanta's northern suburbs.

A big question for Ossoff and other Democrats vying for success in conservative corners of the United States is whether the anti-Trump sentiment that has reared up in rallies and town halls is deep enough to sway a race in a state that handily elected Trump in November. It鈥檚 a question that鈥檚 cropping up unexpectedly in Republican strongholds from Georgia to Kansas to Montana, where districts that the GOP has held for decades are suddenly developing a tinge of violet.

Such contests, like the one to represent Georgia鈥檚 Sixth District 鈥� Newt Gingrich's old district 鈥� are giving Democrats a chance to hone a new bargain with American voters, one that favors economic populism, social justice, and reclaims the mantle of the working class. Some pundits call them a new breed of Democrats. For Duncan, it鈥檚 an effort to 鈥渢ake [Democrats] back to their strength and their values.鈥�

Democratic candidates 鈥渓ike Ossoff will try to capitalize, perhaps not intentionally, on the same attitudes that helped Trump. They鈥檙e outsiders who can tap into the same voters who are dissatisfied with what they see happening 鈥� [a] 鈥榗urse on both your parties,鈥� 鈥� says Chuck Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist. 鈥淭his is a time to take out incumbents where [rookie candidates] can say, 鈥業 haven鈥檛 been part of the problem.鈥� 鈥�

What would in calmer days have likely been a sleepy special election important only to partisans has become a wide-open race with national attention. At rallies around the suburban district, the energy has been akin to a state fair, in no small part because voters concerned by the early days of the Trump presidency sense an upset-in-the-making.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a renewal of civic engagement in America right now,鈥� Ossoff, a former congressional aide who comes off as earnest, yet polished, says in an interview. From the environment to reproductive rights to press freedoms, he says, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a greater awareness of the stakes and the consequences of inaction than any time in recent history. That鈥檚 why folks here in Georgia are, as you can see, so intensely engaged in this campaign. The stakes are high.鈥�

Aside from Ossoff, Democrats trying to breach red state bulwarks include Montana rancher and troubadour Rob Quist, whose campaign notes that 鈥渢here鈥檚 nearly 300 millionaires in Congress but not one Montana folk singer,鈥� and Kansas Democrat James Thompson, who has forced Republicans to play defense in the run-up to a special election Tuesday in what was once a safe district. His latest ad features him firing an AR-15 while a narrator calls him a 鈥渇ighter who grew up in poverty.鈥� Republicans are concerned enough that President Trump recorded a last-minute call this week urging people to vote for Republican Ron Estes.

A first-time win for Democrats?

Democrats haven't won the district since Mr. Gingrich won it in 1979, the longest such drought in the state. But Ossoff has a commanding lead in an 18-person field, including 11 Republicans, several of whom are battling to hoist Trump鈥檚 standard. And Ossoff has surged, breaking fundraising records and raising more than $8 million from nearly 200,000 individual donors, much of it pouring in from other parts of the country.

The Georgia Sixth District is 鈥渂etter educated, more sophisticated certainly than most Georgia districts and probably most districts around the country, so that assumes that a larger share of the electorate would be attentive,鈥� says Professor Bullock. A higher turnout likely won鈥檛 be fueled by 鈥渞eal hard-core partisans,鈥� he says, but by less politically active people 鈥渋nspired to go to the polls.鈥�

That鈥檚 enough to make Republican operatives like Todd Rehm, the editor of GaPundit.com, nervous. How nervous? 鈥淚鈥檇 say a 7.5鈥� on the anxiety scale, he says.

The hints of a possible shift were there: Hillary Clinton won in Cobb County, which is part of the Sixth and only lost the district by 2 percent. And Tom Price, who left the district to become Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary,聽had seen his once decisive vote totals dwindling in recent elections.

Ossoff is shooting for a 50 percent + 1 vote knockout in the so-called "jungle primary" on April 18. He is currently polling at 42 percent. But if a Republican snags the second spot for June, Ossoff will face a more concentrated Republican machine.

Liberal Moms of Roswell

For his part, Ossoff agrees that, in some respects, he has become a vessel for a broader political movement.

He also acknowledges one group of voters in particular have fueled his campaign: women. "I think the most聽interesting part of the story is the thousands of people, mostly led by women, standing up to make a difference."

Count Emile Toufighian among them.

Two years ago, feeling lonely, Ms. Toufighian started Liberal Moms of Roswell and Cobb as a social club, expecting maybe 10 people to join. Turns out she wasn鈥檛 as lonely as she thought. Her group now has more than 1,700 members. She says it鈥檚 one of a growing number of 鈥渞esistance groups鈥� that are tipping from energized voter to full-fledged street activism. Up until now, she says, 鈥淚 felt like I had no voice.鈥�

鈥淧eople are definitely shifting their focus,鈥� says Toufighian, a Roswell, Ga., midwife. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a sense of looking to other people to get it done, then realizing, after the election, 鈥榃ait, this is us 鈥� we鈥檝e got to produce these candidates or be these candidates.鈥� 鈥�

'Can't solve actual problems if we're all extremists'

Among the outsiders is Debra Rodman, an anthropologist running for the Virginia General Assembly.

As part of what鈥檚 been called a 鈥渉uge organic surge鈥� of women candidates in Virginia, Professor Rodman, a professor at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., joins 42 other Democrats running to represent districts currently held by Republicans. In 2015, only 21 Democrats challenged incumbent Republicans.

Advisers have asked her to tone down references to her volunteer work with Syrian refugees, especially Muslim women, helping them to adjust to life in America.

Given Trump鈥檚 win in November, she says she is ignoring such advice, noting that 鈥渂eing moderate and centrist, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 worked, and I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to work.鈥�

To her, the electoral formula is a mix of 鈥渋ntegrity鈥� and holding true to 鈥渧ery progressive values鈥� around immigration, women鈥檚 rights, and education but also bolstering the working-class economy.

鈥淭rue Democratic values have to hold true to very progressive values,鈥� says Rodman. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 go too center because then we鈥檙e not speaking to the people who really need us 鈥� and we are us. I鈥檓 a college professor, but my husband [drives a forklift at a brewery], we struggle to pay the bills, we have a child with special needs, we struggle to get health care.鈥�

鈥淭his is about helping neighbors. We鈥檙e all in the same struggle.鈥�

She says the Georgia election and next month鈥檚 gubernatorial primaries in Virginia are testing a message that 鈥渋s not quite formed yet, but that we鈥檙e seeing emerge.鈥� The Virginia general election is in November.

At a rally on Tuesday in Dunwoody, Ga., baby boomer Paul Flexner says a lot of Americans like him are ready to see a younger generation step up to the plate, if only to get a fresh perspective.聽Ossoff's focus on shared values over partisan talking points also resonates with him.

"More and more people realize that the problem in this country is that we've lost the political middle," he says. "We can't solve actual problems if we're all extremists."

Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that, to win outright, a candidate in the Georgia Sixth District would need to win 50 percent of the vote, plus 1.