Within a year of the death of former House Speaker Tom Murphy, the transformation of the Two Georgias continues mostly unnoticed.

In southwest Georgia's Mitchell County, population 23,852, an icon of a region that has produced movers-and-shakers under the Gold Dome for more than six decades announced that he would not seek re-election.

"In my 25 years of service, I have witnessed far too many competent individuals who sadly did not know when to step down," said Richard Royal of Camilla, who as a Democrat had served under Murphy as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. "I prefer not to follow in their steps."

Last Wednesday, Royal had driven to Atlanta with a certified check for $400 to cover the qualifying fee. But as he drove, he debated whether to run again. On Friday, as the noon deadline approached with Royal yet to qualify, former Camilla Mayor Jay Powell stepped forward to run for the seat as a Republican.

In Mitchell County and the rest of the South, politicians rose to power and influence in Congress and state legislatures by being smart and attuned to the will of voters. Once elected, they were rarely challenged. Royal, who represented Colquitt (Moultrie) and Mitchell counties, epitomized that tradition, facing only two challengers in a quarter century. After Sonny Perdue was elected governor as a Republican, Royal followed Perdue in switching parties and continued to win as a Republican, even though the district is predominantly Democratic.

Royal served on Ways and Means for 22 years, including 11 years as an officer or chairman. He followed in the footsteps of another Mitchell County titan, former state Rep. Marcus Collins of Cotton, who served as Ways and Means chairman for nine years before he was appointed Revenue Commissioner in 1983 by Gov. Joe Frank Harris.

Collins had come to the House in 1961, part of a freshman class that included Murphy. Twelve years later, in 1973, Murphy was elected speaker, and by 1975 he had picked Collins to chair Ways and Means. That post requires someone who is smart and able to resist pressure to riddle the tax code with unsanctioned giveaways. So it helps if they are also from safe legislative districts. Most are expected to be stout fiscal conservatives, though a few haven't been.

It is a post of enormous power.

Before Collins, there had been Fred Hand of Pelham, a Talmadge loyalist who served as speaker from 1947 to 1954. Hand left the House in an effort to succeed Herman Talmadge as governor in 1955, but was defeated by Marvin Griffin, who lived in neighboring Decatur County (Bainbridge).

For more than 60 years, from Hand to Collins to Royal, Mitchell County has wielded disproportionate influence. But that era is coming to an end, in part because Royal has grown disenchanted with politics, especially since his switch to the Republican Party. His district is 35.5 percent black, and while he could most likely have held the seat for as long as he chose, he was dismayed that black voters in his district had deserted him in droves when he changed parties. He had also become frustrated that despite his institutional knowledge, he was never integral to tax-policy decisions as a Republican.

"I don't guess I ever recovered fully from the change in leadership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party," Royal told The Moultrie Observer.

Royal's retirement was one of the few surprises in last week's qualifying. Otherwise, the status quo won't change much. Almost 80 percent of House seats and two-thirds of Senate seats will be uncontested in November because redistricting and the Voting Rights Act have largely eliminated interparty competition. In the Senate, Republicans will keep power, possibly with the same 34-22 majority they have now.

But for Mitchell County, and for a corner of the state with real clout in decades past, the status quo is changed. An era of outsize influence ends under the Gold Dome.

> Jim Wooten is associate editorial page editor. His column appears Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. His Thinking Right blog on ajc.com appears daily.

jwooten@ajc.com