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This is a big year for politics in Georgia, with voters going to the polls in November to cast ballots in a governor’s race and pick a new U.S. senator. Before that, a few contests still have to be settled at the party level with a runoff on July 22. To view The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s deep coverage of the campaigns, go to MyAJC.com.
The town that Jimmy Carter still calls home will play a key role this weekend in his grandson’s political aspirations. But as the community is once again thrust into the spotlight, some here are indifferent about the younger Carter’s quest for governor.
Plains was the launching pad for the elder Carter’s road to the White House, and its residents have happily played host to pilgrims ever since. State Sen. Jason Carter never lived here, but he plans to use the town of roughly 700 as a backdrop this weekend for a lucrative fundraiser in his bid to oust Gov. Nathan Deal.
For $20,000 a couple, donors will get a private tour of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, dinner and a reception with the ex-president and his wife, a photo with the couple, and a visit to the nearby Baptist church where the elder Carter teaches Sunday school.
When the younger Carter returns to Plains to restock his campaign coffers, he’ll find a town that still cherishes its ties to the famous family but is more ambivalent about claiming its scion as one of their own.
“Clearly, we’re proud of President Carter. But it’s hard to say whether there’s much excitement about Jason’s run,” said Philip Kurland, who owns a Plains store chock-full of Carter political memorabilia. “In any small town it’s hard to get eight people to say the sun is shining at the same time. Politics is like religion — we don’t like to talk about it.”
Two famous exports
The town’s residents like to say they have a pair of famous exports: peanuts and a president. The Carter name is plastered everywhere across the town, and many of his relatives still live here. A steady stream of out-of-towners venture off I-75 to soak in the town’s tiny shopping district and try to catch a glimpse of the peanut farmer-turned-president.
The former president still lives just outside of town and usually presides over the annual peanut festival, where thousands of visitors munch on peanut brittle, peanut ice cream and too many other nutty concoctions to name.
Local leaders still regale the president and welcome the bounty from curious visitors, but they note that politics here have long remained solidly conservative. These days, the biggest political fight revolves around a controversy over the local water department.
Several people interviewed during a recent visit said they know little about Jason Carter, who grew up in Atlanta but regularly visited his grandparents in Plains. Pat Medlock, the owner of Plain Peanuts, has known Jason Carter for years and considers himself good friends with his family. But that doesn’t mean Carter has earned his vote.
“I haven’t heard too much about the race either way. I stay out of all that,” Medlock said. “I’m an independent, and I don’t get too enthused about any political race.”
To be certain, there are those in town that are ecstatic about his gubernatorial bid. Andrea Walker, a gift consultant who lives in town, said she and her friends are “claiming him as our own” because of his Plains roots. But others, such as Carrie Gonzales, described a more tepid reaction among other locals.
“It’s probably mixed. I’ve met Jimmy and I’ve met Jason,” said Gonzales, who works at a peanut depot called — what else — Carter’s Warehouse. “But as for me, I don’t even vote.”
They will soon hear plenty more about Jason Carter. The Republican Governors Association last week rolled out a barrage of attack ads questioning his position on the Affordable Care Act. Carter’s campaign countered Wednesday by unleashing a pair of minute-long ads to blunt the GOP onslaught.
The younger Carter, who often says the race is about the future "and not my family," is increasingly tapping the ex-president's network. Jimmy Carter has headlined fundraisers in New York, helped court Hollywood celebrities, solicited email donations from the party faithful and boosted his grandson's campaign on national TV.
Deal's campaign sees the ties as a juicy target. Although polls show the former president's approval rating in Georgia above 60 percent, they hope his record doesn't play well with right-leaning independents who could determine the race. Shortly after his primary victory, Deal said his rival's biggest asset is "a very famous grandfather."
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Like much of rural Georgia, Plains is no longer a stronghold for Democrats. For a reminder, residents need look no further than the man who represents them in the state House: Mike Cheokas, a former Democrat who flipped to the GOP in 2010. Yet Democrats hold a 3-2 edge on the Sumter County Commission, and former Gov. Roy Barnes defeated Deal here four years ago.
Ginger Carter Orr, who grew up in Plains and is Jason Carter’s aunt, tried to explain the area’s complicated politics.
“We vote for the man and not the party. And it’s important to make that distinction. Jason might be running as a Democrat, but he has a broader view of politics,” said Orr, a self-described “benevolent conservative” who is backing her nephew. “You’ll find a lot more independents here than you might think.”
Few know the area’s peculiarities better than George Hooks, who represented the region in the Georgia Senate for 22 years before retiring in 2012. An amateur historian, Hooks said that voters will “jump around the ballots in November” even if they still hold deep respect for the Carter family.
“A lot of people down here just don’t know Jason,” said Hooks, who lives down the road in Americus. “You will find, first of all, local pride in a local family like the Carters. But you’ll find less local loyalty to a given political party.”
In many respects, the town’s politics have hardly changed over the years. Jimmy Bagwell, who has served on the City Council since Carter won the presidency in 1976, said it’s always been an odd juxtaposition.
“Plains has always been conservative, and I would say it still is. And President Carter is not,” said Bagwell, who taught history at a local university for four decades. “I haven’t found many ties to Jason Carter’s candidacy yet. It hasn’t been advertised or brought out much here.”
That’s starting to change. Kurland’s memorabilia store boasts a few Jason Carter buttons alongside its galleys of Jimmy Carter posters and six-packs of Billy Beer. Every now and then, he said, a visitor asks about the younger Carter’s bid.
Town elders don’t mind one bit. Politics aside, Bagwell said there’s one thing he’s certain residents can agree upon.
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