DALTON, Ga. — Latino voters showed up in far bigger numbers in Georgia’s 2026 midterm than four years ago, and the county with the state’s largest swing toward Democrats sits in the heart of northwest Georgia’s Latino community.
More than 198,000 Latino Georgians cast ballots in this month’s election, a 78% jump from the 2022 midterm, according to secretary of state figures cited by GALEO, a nonpartisan Norcross-based group that works to boost Latino civic participation. In precincts where Latinos make up more than 30% of voters, turnout reached 81.8%, about two points higher than the statewide rate.
GALEO CEO Jerry Gonzalez said in the group’s statement that the surge shows the community wants to be heard on issues such as the cost of living. Deputy Director Elisa Covarrubias said the group will keep running leadership and civic education programs after Election Day.
The shift was sharpest in Whitfield County, home to Dalton and a large Latino population. Two years ago the county gave Donald Trump a 44-point margin over his Democratic opponent. This year, Republican Mike Collins still won the county in his challenge to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, but by just 13 points, a 31-point move that was the biggest leftward swing of any Georgia county.
Immigration enforcement and affordability were the issues many Latino voters pointed to. Gonzalez has cautioned that the change is not a permanent realignment and that both parties will have to address Latino voters’ priorities to win them.
The Latino electorate is still a small but fast-growing slice of the state. About 5% of Georgia’s 8 million registered voters are Latino, according to the secretary of state’s office, and that group has grown by 267,614 people, or 210%, over the past decade. Several Latino candidates also won metro Atlanta races, including seats in the state Senate and state House.
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