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As political activists aroundthe nation watched Democrats bicker in Atlanta last weekend over who should take the partyshelm, alessnoticed drama got underway in the nearby suburbs, one that ultimately may signal whether the party canemergefrom its funk.

Georgia Democrats, who have been getting creamed for years in the towns stretching north of Atlanta, believe they are within striking distance in a special election that will choose a replacement for Tom Price, the former member of Congress tasked by President Trumpwith dismantling Obamacare as his Health and Human Services secretary. Voter distaste for Trump, the evolution of the new Sunbelt suburban electorate and a 30-year-old candidate who has become an unlikely magnet for out-of-state political cash are giving Democrats a welcome sliver of hope.

The special election in Georgias 6th Congressional District, with its first round in April, has become a big, early test of how effectively Democrats can channel the surge of protest and anger against Trump and replacesome red on the electoral map with blue.

A strong showing would support the growing narrative that Trumps controversial nature and governing style is creating problems for down-ballot Republicans, said veteran elections analyst Stuart Rothenberg. By strong showing, he doesnt necessarily mean a win. Even a close race in this longtimeGOP stronghold would galvanize Democrats nationally.

This is the same well-to-do, majority-white region outside Atlanta that sent Newt Gingrich to Congress in the 1990s, a regionwhere voters have long andenthusiastically cast ballots for GOP presidential nominees. But they were not wild about Trump, who won the district in November by fewer than2 points.

Trumps struggle herewas indicative of a broader problem in suburban areas nationwide as well asa slow shift leftward for Georgia,driven by its suburbs. Hillary Clinton and the national Democratic Party did not invest in trying to win the state in the presidential race, but they ended up performing better there than in the longtime swing state of Ohio.

Now, the party is homingin on southern and westernsuburban congressional districts like the one Price is vacating as they draft blueprints for the future. The 23 congressional districts that voted for Clinton but also elected a Republican to the House include suburbs of Atlanta, Houston andCaliforniasOrange County,whichspansfour such districts.

In Georgia, the eagerness to notch a win and show some momentum is spawning unexpected alliances among Democrats.

Legions of liberals who read the Daily Kos blog have enthusiastically heeded the call of digitalactivism and sentdollars to Jon Ossoff, a clean-cut, even-tempered, politically centered neophyte who hardly resembles the Bernie Sanders-types the onlinecrowd tends to back. Some 55,000 peoplehave contributed through the blog, netting Ossoff nearly $1 million in a few weeks. Thats more than double the rate at whichDaily Kos donors gave to Elizabeth Warren when she ran for the Senate in 2012.

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also is investing, with nine of its operatives in the district quarterbacking get-out-the-vote efforts. Some national celebrities are involved. In addition to the Daily Kos money, Ossoff says he has raised roughly $1 million more elsewhere.

No Democrat in the Georgia district has ever had such a war chest.

What progressives want right now are Democrats who will oppose Trump, David Nir, political director at Daily Kos, said in an email. Ossoff made it clear in his campaign kickoff that Trump has to be stopped, and thats what matters to us.

Ossoff doesnt linger too long on that point, though. A former Capitol Hill staffer and maker of documentaries about international corruption, Ossoff emerged as a national star of the race when he was endorsed by Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta, a hero of the civil rights movement. But his style has little resemblance tothat of his fiery mentor. Ossoff chooses his words carefully and seems to prefer opining on the prospects for local economic growth than notions that Trump will trigger the apocalypse.

I am reaching out to voters across the spectrum, humbly and with respect, offering local solutions, he said during a phone interview after a weekend canvassing event in Roswell attracted 200 volunteers.

The many prominent Republicans vying for the seat in the April 18nonpartisan open primary already have hurled charges of carpetbagging against Ossoff, a native of the district. It doesnt help that he currently lives just outside of it, in an apartment near the hospital where his girlfriend works. A cringeworthy video of Ossoff at what appears to be a Georgetown frat party, dressed as Han Solo and childishly jumping around and talking of beer kegs, has been posted by a super PAC on YouTube. The message Not Ready scrolls across the screen at one point.

Ossoff has been clear that he reviles Trump. But he said pounding on him every second of the race is not a winning strategy in this district. The contrast is clear, he said.I dont need to say the mans name every third word.

Democrats funding him nationally out of their anger with Trump are OK with his approach. They just want the win.

Republicans in the Georgia district have a lot more to lose. Their leading candidate is one of the states highest-profile conservatives, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who earlier in her career, as an executive at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity for breast cancer,played a major role inthe organizations decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

Amid the backlash that followed, Handel resigned and became a favorite on the right.

The top two finishersin the primary, regardless of party, will advance to a runoff in June.Even if Handel or one of the other Republicans ultimatelywins, a thin margin would offera bad sign for the GOPin a district where Price consistently won around 60% of the vote.

Back in Washington, Democratic operatives are looking at the district as a laboratory. It offers an opportunity to closely examine how aswing voting bloc is responding to Trumpand what strategies might work in similar districts elsewhere.

This race is going to be instructive for the Democratic Party moving into the future, said Rebecca DeHart, executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party. It is states like this where the Democratic Party is going to be reborn. The horizon is nothing but blue.

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Democrats see a path to salvation in the Sunbelt and Newt Gingrich's backyard - Los Angeles Times