Georgia Voters on Ossoff Senate Re-Election 2026

Objective and context

This qualitative program explored what Georgia voters want to hear from Senator Jon Ossoff as he heads toward 2026, with emphasis on which parts of his record resonate, how bipartisanship is judged, and what economic and healthcare messages land with suburban voters. Across 18 respondents (six per question set) spanning suburban Atlanta commuters, rural households, small-city professionals, and young small-business operators, the signal is clear: voters prioritize tangible, local benefits over rhetoric.

Cross-question learnings (with evidence)

• Accountability is a baseline, not a brand. Oversight matters but must be tied to concrete fixes on healthcare affordability, “junk fees,” grid reliability, broadband, and fix-it infrastructure. As Carrie Guebara put it: “Accountability is good. Only accountability is lazy.” Voters want oversight paired with remedies like caps on out-of-pocket costs, PBM accountability, and real last-mile broadband.
• Conditional, results-first bipartisanship. Working across the aisle is welcomed only when it delivers measurable Georgia wins-broadband, clinics, roads, insulin pricing, fentanyl response, disaster relief-and never trades away core rights (voting access, reproductive autonomy) or basic fiscal guardrails. Carrie Guebara: “Real bipartisan work is fine if it delivers…not another kumbaya press release.” Jeralyn Reid: “Be a brick wall on people’s rights. Shake hands when it helps, not for a photo.”
• Healthcare access and affordability dominate. Especially outside metro centers, respondents described care as unreachable due to costs, distance, and unreliable utilities. Jeralyn Reid captured the tradeoffs: choosing between “meds and fixing my brake light.” Power and broadband were repeatedly tied to health (telehealth, CPAP power); Justin Washington: “Keep the lights and heat on…make utilities answer for days-long outages.”
• Plain, local, numbers-driven communication. Voters want one-page, county-level “receipts” with dollars, timelines, contacts, and quick, visible wins. Sabrina Smith: “Plain English. No slogans. One page, no fluff. Dollars, dates, counties. I want to see my county on there.” Justin Washington asked for fast pilots (“mobile clinic day next month…report back like a coach at halftime”).

Persona correlations and nuances

• Suburban mid-career professionals respond to friction-reduction: housing near jobs, commute reliability, and consumer data/privacy protections (supported by Carrie Guebara).
• Rural low-income service and caregiving households prioritize immediate healthcare access, last-mile broadband, and utility reliability (supported by Jeralyn Reid, Justin Washington, Sabrina Smith, Citlaly Obbink).
• Older, higher-educated small-city voters want transparent, data-driven trackers and independent verification (supported by Sean Madrid).
• Young small-business operators value low-burden supports and operational predictability, with interest in data privacy and adult ed (Citlaly Obbink).
• Across income levels, uninsured/cost-sensitive households measure success by lowered out-of-pocket costs and open local clinics.

Actionable recommendations (operations and transparency)

• Publish a plain-language public service scorecard with county-by-county dollars, projects, timelines, and contacts-answering the demand for “receipts” and quarterly reporting (echoing calls from Sean Madrid, Sabrina Smith).
• Stand up monthly mobile service days in places people already gather (Dollar General lots, church halls, clinic waiting rooms) to provide screenings, benefits navigation, Rx cost help, and utility assistance (reflecting Jeralyn Reid and Justin Washington).
• Launch broadband dead-zone crowdsourcing and enrollment assistance for affordable plans/devices to ensure telehealth actually works in last-mile areas.
• Advance utility reliability and household resilience: outage reporting, medical-device backup info, weatherization referrals, and bill-credit education.
• Create a Fair-Fees navigator for airline/bank/telecom/medical billing disputes to deliver immediate pocketbook relief (“kill junk fees”).
• Define and publish non-negotiables on core rights and fiscal guardrails, then confine cross-aisle cooperation to narrow, fundable projects with clear pay-fors, deadlines, and measurable outputs.

Risks and measurement guardrails

• Avoid performative optics: voters reject photo-op bipartisanship; tie every announcement to a local, measurable outcome.
• Set realistic timelines with in/out-of-scope notes; update frequently to prevent expectation gaps.
• Protect privacy in connectivity and fee-intake efforts; use opt-in consent and minimal PII.

KPIs to track: median helpdesk response ≤48 hours; 6+ mobile events and 500+ constituents/month; 50+ dead zones validated and 1,000+ connectivity assists/quarter; $250k+ fee relief/quarter; −15% average outage duration and 1,000+ resilience enrollments/quarter.

Next steps

1. 0–30 days: Publish first scorecard draft; set 24–48 hour helpdesk standard; open Fair-Fees intake; release utility backup guides.
2. 31–60 days: Pilot mobile service days; begin broadband speed-test crowdsourcing and sign-up assistance; share county one-pagers.
3. 61–120 days: Expand mobile cadence; publish first full quarterly scorecard; report fee recovery and connectivity assists; add multilingual materials.
4. 120+ days: Scale clinic/utility/ISP partnerships, refine KPIs, and institutionalize transparent reporting.

Across segments, the throughline is pragmatic: deliver visible, local improvements fast, prove them with plain-language receipts, and reserve compromise for projects that put trucks on roads and dollars in Georgia communities.