Nathan Deal led a historic Republican sweep of Georgia on Tuesday, soundly defeating Democrat Roy Barnes to become Georgia’s next governor.
Deal’s victory consolidates the state's political power in North Georgia for years to come: The governor-elect and the lieutenant governor are from Gainesville, and the House speaker is from Blue Ridge. All three are Republicans.
Accompanied by a buoyant Gov. Sonny Perdue, Deal emerged to greet his supporters about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Buckhead.
“Georgia has placed its faith in the Republican Party, and we are not going to let them down,” Deal said to cheers.
"But tomorrow the work starts all over again," he continued. "It is a job that I have welcomed, that I have wanted, and I want to ensure I will put in my best effort. I will give you a full day’s work every day for the next four years. And we’re going to make you proud of what this state can be.”
Barnes, appearing before his supporters at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center, said: “I just talked to Congressman Deal and I wished him the best as the new governor.”
He quoted the Apostle Paul. “I have fought the good fight. I have run the good race. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith, and so have you.”
With 100 percent of precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning, Deal had defeated Barnes by more than a quarter-million votes, and his margin of victory was a solid 10 percentage points: 53 percent to 43 percent. Libertarian John Monds wound up with 4 percent.
Deal maintained a double-digit lead nearly all night as the vote counting proceeded and was never in serious danger of being forced into a runoff with Barnes. The Democrat captured most of the state's urban centers -- Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Columbus, Augusta, Albany -- and made a strong showing in rural southwest Georgia. But Deal owned the map in North Georgia, southeastern Georgia and in the key northern suburbs of Atlanta: Cobb, Gwinnett, Cherokee and Forsyth.
The Republican carried his home county, Hall, with 80 percent of the vote, and he also won Barnes' home county, Cobb, by a wide margin.
Barnes acknowledged early on Election Night that he had an uphill climb.
Speaking of Democrats' fortunes in general, he mentioned Delaware, where Democrat Chris Coons won the Senate race over Republican Christine O'Donnell, who once admitted to dabbling in witchcraft as a teenager.
“It is hard for a Democrat to get elected anywhere,” Barnes said. “The witch apparently got beat. Apparently, you have to be a witch to be off the far end if you’re a Republican.”
In its final weeks, part of the campaign seemed to devolve into an endless series of nasty TV ads from both Deal and Barnes that may have tried voters’ patience more than it influenced their votes.
Mary Wheeler, 82, of Jonesboro said the ads attacking Deal didn’t change her support for him, especially the ones that mentioned the financial problems he suffered after investing in a North Georgia business started by Deal’s his daughter and son-in-law.
“You’re going to help your children out,” Wheeler said. “He [Barnes] would do the same thing, I’m sure.”
Deal will succeed fellow Republican Perdue of Bonaire and start off with an advantage that Perdue did not immediately enjoy: full Republican control of the state Legislature. The GOP is expected to maintain control of both the House and Senate in this election. Republicans controlled the Senate when Perdue took office but didn’t capture the House until 2004.
A former congressman, Deal also will have the advantage of working with fellow Republican leaders from North Georgia. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle won re-election Tuesday night by a wide margin. And House Speaker David Ralston faced no opposition on the ballot.
Deal “would have a very positive relationship with the Legislature in Georgia,” said former state GOP chairman Alec Poitevint, a Republican national committeeman. “The lay of the land in regard to that is very, very positive.”
But some tough challenges await Deal. He has proposed a costly agenda that includes investing more in public education and cutting some state taxes to help boost the economy. But Georgia is now facing a projected budget shortfall for the next fiscal year that could reach $1.8 billion and make it difficult for Deal to deliver on his promises.
“It is going to be a very challenging and difficult set of decisions that will confront him as soon as he settles into the governor’s chair,” said Rusty Paul, a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and a former state senator.
“He has some tough decisions, but he has the right kind of temperament to take it on and a good knowledge of state government from his experience in the state Senate," Paul said.
Deal prevailed despite Barnes’ relentless attacks on his ethics. Barnes repeatedly accused Deal of mixing public business with private business when he was a congressman.
Deal, for example, continues to face questions about his efforts to preserve a state program for inspecting salvaged automobiles that earned his company nearly $300,000 a year. The AJC reported in August 2009 that Deal intervened with state officials when it appeared the salvage inspection program would be privatized.
That led to a congressional ethics investigation that found Deal appeared to have violated numerous ethics rules. Deal has said he did nothing improper, and he resigned from Congress in March, before a final determination could be made.
Meanwhile, several ethics complaints are lingering. Last month, for example, the Georgia Democratic Party filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission against Deal over allegations that he accepted multiple campaign contributions from individuals and companies that are affiliated and that he took contributions that exceeded state limits. Deal indicated in a campaign finance report he filed Monday that he returned about $130,000 in contributions that led to the complaint.
Deal also faces some substantial financial problems that came to light in recent months. In 2009, his daughter and son-in-law filed for bankruptcy because of the failed sporting goods business they started. Deal invested in that business and its failure left him with $2.1 million in debt, which he has pledged to pay off.
Staff writers Ralph Ellis, Marcus Garner, April Hunt, Katie Leslie, Jaime Sarrio and Steve Visser contributed to this article.