海角大神

When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made one of his first general election campaign swings in August, he went straight to the modern heartland of the state鈥檚 Republican Party.

It wasn鈥檛 Buckhead, the glitzy Atlanta neighborhood where Governor Kemp lives in a governor鈥檚 mansion dwarfed by other nearby estates. And it wasn鈥檛 suburban Cobb County, once the bastion of Newt Gingrich.

Instead, Governor Kemp kept going north, deep into the Georgia mountains that have become one of the most Republican areas in the country over the past three decades. He stopped at a gas station turned coffee shop in Toccoa to urge people to 鈥渢urn out an even bigger vote here in this county and in northeast Georgia than we鈥檝e ever seen before.鈥�

鈥淎sk your kids, your grandkids, your friend鈥檚 kid, are they registered to vote?鈥� Governor Kemp told attendees. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e eligible, and they鈥檙e not, we got to get them registered, and we鈥檝e got to go tell them to pull it for the home team.鈥�

The emphasis on this rural region represents a notable shift in the GOP鈥檚 strategy in Georgia. The party grew into a powerhouse in Georgia once it began combining a strong performance in the Atlanta suburbs with growing dominance in rural areas. But that coalition has frayed in recent years as voters in the booming Atlanta region rejected the GOP under former President Donald Trump, turning this one time Republican stronghold into the South鈥檚 premier swing state.

A 41-county region, including some distant Atlanta suburbs encroaching into north Georgia, now has as many GOP voters as the core of metro Atlanta, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Those changing dynamics have intensified pressure on Governor Kemp to maintain 鈥� or strengthen 鈥� his support in rural mountainous communities like Toccoa to offset losses closer to the capital city.

Governor Kemp won the governor鈥檚 office in 2018 by defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 1.4 percentage points. As the two wage a rematch for the job this year, early summer polling found a close race, with some suggesting Governor Kemp has a narrow advantage.

But his reliance on voters like those in Toccoa is driving the party further to the right.

In a diversifying state, north Georgia is overwhelmingly white. While Democrats attack and Republicans fret over abortion restrictions in the suburbs, there鈥檚 little public wavering in the mountains. Voters love guns so much that they cut out the middleman and chose gun dealer Andrew Clyde as one of north Georgia鈥檚 two very Trumpy members of Congress. The other member? Marjorie Taylor Greene.

鈥淚t reflects a lot of the country right now, in the sense that it鈥檚 very populist, very close to the vest, very isolated in the sense of distrust of government, very strong-willed, mountain Appalachian-type individuals that are very self-sufficient,鈥� said former Rep. Doug Collins, the Republican who preceded Mr. Clyde in representing northeast Georgia鈥檚 9th Congressional District.

Kathy Petrella, a Clarkesville retiree who was visiting the state Department of Driver Services in early September in Toccoa, said she鈥檚 a 鈥渢rue blue conservative.鈥�

鈥淚t means I don鈥檛 believe in the government telling me anything I have to do, except law and order,鈥� said Ms. Petrella, who cites her 海角大神 faith as an important anchor of her political affiliation and fears a decline into 鈥渃ommunism.鈥�

Lee MacAulay of the north Georgia town of Cleveland, also visiting Toccoa, said she believes Trump won the 2020 election and calls President Joe Biden 鈥渁 ridiculous joke鈥� and 鈥渁n idiot.鈥�

鈥淚 was a Trumper,鈥� Ms. MacAulay said. 鈥淚 am a Trumper.鈥�

Jay Doss, a Toccoa lawyer, said he feels 鈥渨orking-class people are benefited more by the conservative party鈥� and that 鈥淚 just feel that less government is better for everybody.鈥�

There was once another conservative tradition in north Georgia 鈥� in the Democratic Party. While there were always some Republicans, a legacy of white mountaineers who backed the Union over the Confederacy in the Civil War, they won few elections.

鈥淚t used to be slap Democrat. If you ran Republican, you could not get elected. Now, if you run Democrat, you ain鈥檛 got a chance much of getting elected,鈥� said Stephens County Commissioner Dennis Bell, a Republican who owns Currahee Station, the coffee shop where Governor Kemp campaigned in Toccoa.

That Democratic lineage, nourished by the 1930s-era New Deal, produced former Gov. Zell Miller, a proud son of the mountains and titan of Georgia Democratic politics a generation ago.

Mr. Miller rode high in the 1990s as a Democrat who combatted crime and overhauled welfare, while creating lottery-funded college scholarships. Mr. Miller even squeaked out a reelection victory in the 1994 鈥淩epublican Revolution鈥� that vaulted Newt Gingrich to U.S. House Speaker.

That year, Mr. Miller actually lost his home region to Republican Guy Millner, a self-financed millionaire businessman. But Mr. Miller lost by fewer than 4,000 votes across north Georgia, and Mr. Millner鈥檚 strength in suburban Atlanta wasn鈥檛 enough, leaving the Republican 32,000 votes short statewide.

By 2004, as a U.S. senator, Mr. Miller was giving the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention that renominated George W. Bush. By then, Mr. Miller had written 鈥淎 National Party No More,鈥� a book that blamed his own party for abandoning Southern conservative Democrats.

鈥淥bviously, southerners believe the national Democratic Party does not share their values,鈥� Mr. Miller wrote in the 2003 book. 鈥淭hey do not trust the national party with their money or the security of the country.鈥�

North Georgia was 19% of Mr. Millner鈥檚 vote in 1994. It was 26% of Governor Kemp鈥檚 vote in 2018. Some of that is due to population growth, but reflects a partisan shift to Republicans. Mr. Millner won less than 51% of the vote in the region. Governor Kemp won almost 72%.

Democrats, enduring steep decline, grew demoralized. June Krise, who then chaired the Democratic Party in north Georgia鈥檚 White County, remembers crying when the county probate judge, clerk of court, and sheriff all switched to run as Republicans.

鈥溾�業f we don鈥檛 switch, we will lose because the Republicans are going to run somebody against us,鈥欌�� Ms. Krise remembers the men telling her. 鈥淎nd guess why they were going to lose. Barack Obama was the Democratic nominee for president.鈥�

Republicans say formerly Democratic voters gravitated to their party because of cultural issues, but those who study the electorate note white voters are much more likely to be Republican, and Appalachia made a hard turn against Mr. Obama, the nation鈥檚 first Black president.

鈥淭he Republican Party has now started organizing itself, I think, to be more in line with the white people who are there 鈥� more rural, less urban-interested, even less suburban-interested, in terms of the state party,鈥� said Bernard Fraga, an Emory University political scientist. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 looks more like North Georgia in a lot of ways.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.