The question for 2026 is whether the summer of surgery absences, the missed votes, and 13 years of low-output incumbency in a city that is younger and more politically engaged than it was in 2012 has created enough of an opening for Gerard or someone else to make this a real race.

This article is about what happens when democratic accountability goes on life support for 45 years, when voters become irrelevant, when a man holds power so long that 'representation' becomes indistinguishable from 'occupancy,' and when the only way a seat changes hands is death or indictment.

Let me ask you a simple question. If your doctor missed two weeks of work, lost their hospital privileges, had colleagues publicly question whether they could still do the job, and then it came out that they hadn’t voted in six straight elections, including a presidential election, would you keep scheduling appointments with them? Of course not. So why do voters in Georgia’s 13th keep sending David Scott back to Washington? That’s the question we’re asking. And the answer mat