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The small, but growing Democratic movement in Northwest Georgia

Staff photo by Larry Sullivan II/ A sign reading “Welcome Democrats” sits outside during the “Country Democrat Rally” at the Walker County Agriculture Center on Saturday, Feb.21, 2026
Staff photo by Larry Sullivan II/ A sign reading “Welcome Democrats” sits outside during the “Country Democrat Rally” at the Walker County Agriculture Center on Saturday, Feb.21, 2026 Staff photo by Larry Sullivan II/ A sign reading “Welcome Democrats” sits outside during the “Country Democrat Rally” at the Walker County Agriculture Center on Saturday, Feb.21, 2026

ROCK SPRING, Ga. — The 155 attendees of a district-wide “Country Democrat” rally in Walker County made up a small group compared to the crowds that turned out last week to see President Donald Trump in Rome, Georgia, but the party members see progress in their numbers.

“It has grown dramatically in the last two years,” Dorris Shober, a Democratic voter and resident of Dade County, said in an interview.

Shober said she and her husband had previously felt alone when faced with a ballot largely empty of Democratic options.

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Cathy Kott of Cohutta, Georgia, who is running for the District 6 state House seat in the November midterms and also ran previously, said from the podium that having a choice in an election matters.