From 1872 until 2002, every governor of Georgia was a Democrat. There have now been two Republican governors of the Peach State since Reconstruction (current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and outgoing incumbent Nathan Deal). Thanks to favorable demographic trends (a sizable and growing minority population and plenty of upscale college-educated folk of every background, many of them transplants from beyond the Deep South), the Donkey Party is optimistic about regaining its ancient grip on the state. Some think that revival could occur beginning with this year’s gubernatorial contest, given a good national tailwind and the considerable enthusiasm[1] that Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams has generated.
Democrats have also counted on a large and abrasive GOP gubernatorial field to burnish the party’s extremist reputation and dampen Republican enthusiasm. And so far, going into the July 24 runoff between Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the GOP has not disappointed. They have largely behaved like the general election is theirs no matter how they conduct themselves. And what had been a sort of a nasty low-grade skirmish has blown up into something else as larger forces have taken over the Cagle–Kemp contest.
Cagle, who has been lieutenant governor since 2002, was the front-runner from the beginning of the cycle, and initially looked like someone who might win without a runoff (Georgia requires majorities for party nominations). Though the obvious “Establishment Republican” candidate, the “Establishment” in Georgia is pretty hard-core conservative, and the entire field ran conspicuously to the right of the very popular Nathan Deal (notably they all criticized the incumbent for vetoing a questionably drafted “religious liberty” bill[2], and stampeded, against Deal’s wishes[3], to punish Atlanta-based Delta Airlines for breaking off
