Even though the Athens-Clarke County Library auditorium is already packed with attendees, more try to squeeze in. The event organizers direct people to overflow rooms, but some sneak past and try to blend in with the media crews lining the room. The murmur of hundreds of local Democrats grows louder as they await the start of a town hall organized by Indivisible GA10 and the Oconee County Democratic Committee.
A member of Indivisible GA10, a local political activist group, looks on from the stage at the sea of white and gray heads and welcomes the crowd to the satirically named “TOWN HALL GATHERING WITH(out) REP. MIKE COLLINS.” The absent congressman is represented on stage by a chair, empty save for a red “Make America Great Again” hat, one of Rep. Mike Collins’s characteristic accessories.
“Many of us, the Democrats in District 10, knew to start with that Mike Collins was not going to be great as a representative, but now we’re really unhappy with him,” said Iva King, co-leader of Indivisible GA10.
Collins vs. The Democrats
The antagonistic relationship between Collins and his liberal constituents is part of a larger story of how Indivisible GA10 and its members struggle to be heard. They represent a relatively small group of Democrats in Georgia’s largely Republican 10th District.
“There’s a very large university community, plus a very sizable, I think about 30% Black population in Clarke County, as well. So those two groups tend to be more progressive than others,” said Trey Hood, University of Georgia professor of political science. “Athens has become sort of a blue dot in a sea of red.”
The last time his seat was up for reelection, Collins won District 10 with 64.5% of the vote. Athens stood out as one of the few counties that voted blue that year. In 2026, Collins will run as the incumbent in the U.S. House race for his district.
While some political activism groups have affected elections, Hood does not believe Indivisible GA10 stands a chance at ousting Collins.
“It’s probably unlikely that this group is going to have some kind of outside influence on the 10th congressional race that’s coming up,” Hood said.
Why It’s Newsworthy: This local progressive political activism group’s membership is only growing ahead of the 2026 10th District congressional race.The Issues at Stake
Town hall attendee Linda Exum wanted to tell Collins about the worries she has regarding the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessing databases with Americans’ sensitive data.
“So my personal information is out there for them to do anything they want to, and I want to know what Mike Collins is going to do about that,” Exum said.
But with Collins absent, attendees had to write questions on comment forms to be mailed to his office later.
Though the town hall went well for Indivisible GA10 in terms of attendance and publicity, members are still frustrated with Collins’s disengagement with the group in general.
“I would say he’s not representing the people of District 10,” King said.
Hood does not agree with the notion that a Republican congressman always needs to listen to his constituents in the minority party.
“They probably legitimately feel that way. But again, the district is so overwhelmingly Republican that Collins doesn’t necessarily have to talk to everyone in the district,” Hood said.
Looking Ahead
Membership of Indivisible GA10 has increased since President Trump’s second inauguration. King said their email list increased by 950 since January, and now they send out their newsletters to 1,100 email addresses.
The group was not always so popular, though.
In 2020, after the death of George Floyd, Indivisible GA10 started organizing demonstrations to support the Black Lives Matter movement. At first, they got negative feedback, often in the form of honking from passing cars. However, the group reframed the gesture with a sign that said Honk for Justice.
“Now we get honks of people that agree, and we get more thumbs up and friendly honks than anything else,” King said.
The majority of Indivisible GA10’s members are retirees, though local young people are gaining interest in the group. King said it’s the right time for new leadership.
“I’m 78,” she said. “It’s time to get some younger people involved.”
Sophia Stafford is a third-year student majoring in journalism and Spanish.
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