GEORGIA – New polling in Georgia released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — shows that the 2022 election defied pre-election predictions of a massive “red wave” in no small measure because Equality Voters pushed back against extremism and voted to protect commonly held values and our democracy.

Although Republican Governor Brian Kemp won reelection with 53 percent of the vote, Equality Voters delivered 90 percent of their vote to Stacey Abrams. While this support did not give Abrams a win, similar levels of support for U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock were crucial to his strong showing and near-outright victory on Election Day.

Across the country, election deniers and right-wing extremists lost winnable elections because they advocated views that are out-of-touch with average voters, particularly the huge number of Equality Voters who made the critical difference up and down the ballot. Equality Voters, of which there are nearly 1.5 million in Georgia, are a group of voters modeled to support LGBTQ+ equality. They represented 38 percent of the 2022 national electorate and 27 percent of the 2022 Georgia electorate — a number that reflects the growing political strength of this community — and tend to be younger and more racially diverse than the electorate as a whole.

“As anti-equality politicians line up in a circular firing squad in the aftermath of historic losses, they would do well to recognize that they lost because they nominated extreme candidates who advocated extreme positions, including attacks on an LGBTQ+ community that grows more politically powerful every election cycle,” said Human Rights Campaign National Campaign Director Geoff Wetrosky. “While Brian Kemp was presented as a more moderate candidate, Herschel Walker repeatedly mocked and attacked the LGBTQ+ community and now faces an uphill battle in the runoff. We anticipate Equality Voters dealing the final blow to Walker on December 6th and sending a strong message that lies, hate, and division have no place in Georgia.”

Equality Voters delivered huge margins to Democrats at every level of the ballot.

• A 90 percent majority of Equality Voters supported Raphael Warnock, 90 percent supported Stacey Abrams for Governor, and 90 percent supported Democratic U.S. House candidates.

Voters will tolerate no retreat on marriage.

• With pivotal U.S. Senate votes on marriage equality now underway in the lame duck session, it’s worth noting a convincing 54 percent of Georgia voters support Congress passing a law to protect the federal right to same-sex marriage.
  

• Garnering majority support in the conservative midterm electorate is a key accomplishment in the movement for equality.
  

• Recall that just 18 years ago, a convincing majority voted to ban same-sex marriage in the state. Georgians are clearly in a much different place now, even if some anti-equality politicians are not.
  

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.