Georgia Republicans lost power in a rout. Now what?
When Republican Attorney General Chris Carr was asked to name three things that went wrong for his party in Tuesday’s election wipeout, he didn’t hesitate: “Donald Trump, Donald Trump and Donald Trump.”
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, fresh off a failed Senate campaign, will tell you not to “read too much” into the GOP rout that had to do more with economic troubles than the president.
And U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, a potential GOP contender for U.S. Senate in 2028, sees a different problem: Republicans spent too much time talking about personalities and not enough about policies that matter to voters.
They’re hardly alone in searching for answers.
Democrats painted every statewide office blue and flipped counties that the president carried by double digits just two years ago, sending Republicans into an unfamiliar exile after a quarter-century of political dominance.
The sheer scale of the defeat has left Georgia Republicans confronting a question they haven’t seriously considered in decades: Where does the party go from here?
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins ran for Senate as an unapologetic Trump loyalist and was routed by 18 points. Billionaire Rick Jackson leaned on his foster-care-to-billionaire upbringing and vast personal fortune. He still lost by roughly 10 points.
Now, with the Governor’s Mansion lost, the state House in Democratic hands and every statewide Republican ousted from office, the GOP faces a reckoning over what went wrong and how to recover.
Do Republicans double down on Trump’s movement or return to the brand of conservatism that helped Gov. Brian Kemp win two terms?
Or will another round of infighting make their comeback even harder?
For some of the Republicans swept from office, the answer starts with Trump. They blame his war with Iran, tariffs and other policies for turning voters against the GOP. Some call for a permanent break with MAGA.
“We’ve reached the end of the MAGA movement and I’m excited to see our party return to its conservative roots,” said state Rep. Scott Hilton, who was one of several Gwinnett-based lawmakers who lost their seats last week. “In the coming years, Georgians will quickly come to appreciate and long to return to Republican leadership in Georgia.”
He added: “The work begins today to organize, fundraise and equip new, young leaders. Our party will only grow stronger
A coalition comes apart
The coalition that collapsed Tuesday was forged by Sonny Perdue’s stunning 2002 upset of Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, launching an era of Republican dominance that survived challenges from rising Democratic stars and Trump’s growing unpopularity in the suburbs.
The breadth of its unraveling was staggering.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s victory over Collins was so complete he even carried the staunch GOP bastions of Houston and Lowndes counties.
The Democratic surge swept away downballot Republicans who hardly worried about their chances. And the defeats extended deep into the Legislature, where Democrats captured the House for the first time since 2004.
Come January, the Georgia Senate will be the last major stronghold for Republicans under the Gold Dome, where they will hold a narrow 29-27 majority.
That makes Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte and his allies perhaps the most important players in the state GOP’s next chapter.
Even though Senate Republicans can no longer set the agenda for state government, they can still decide how much of the Democratic agenda gets through.
They can use their narrow majority to hold out for compromises or demand concessions. Or they could choose gridlock, burying Democratic priorities in committees and denying them votes on the floor.
If Republicans turn the Senate into the chamber of “no,” they could reinforce the very frustrations that spurned voters from the party. Cooperate too readily, and they risk infuriating the party’s base.
Party leaders have been mum about their strategy, but state Sen. Russ Goodman, one of the more independent-minded Republicans in the chamber, laid out his approach.
“We need to work together where we can,” Goodman said, “and stand up for conservative values where we can’t.”
Stay the course or start over?
Some argue there’s no need for a sweeping overhaul. They see Tuesday as a rejection of Trump, not the conservative policies that have guided Georgia for decades.
“Georgians voted like Trump was on the ballot. The frustrating thing is that this is a repudiation of a singular individual, not a repudiation of state policy, vision, or principles,” said Cole Muzio of the Frontline Policy Council, an influential conservative advocacy organization.
Others see a party so thoroughly tied to one politician that even candidates running on their own credentials couldn’t escape Trump’s shadow.
Jackson’s final campaign swing captured the dilemma. After at first announcing he wouldn’t campaign with Trump in Middle Georgia, the Republican reversed course and joined the president at a rally in hopes of energizing his voters. Neither approach worked out, particularly as Trump pleaded with voters to “pretend” he was on the ballot.
“The buck stops with President Trump,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County GOP chair and Kennesaw State University political science professor. “Georgia Republicans needed a strong MAGA turnout, but the same visits that fired up the base alienated suburban Republicans and swing voters.”
A different path back
Other Republicans see a simpler route back to power: Let Democrats take the lead, wait for them to overplay their hands and trust that frustrated voters will eventually come back to the GOP fold. McCormick, for one, predicts the voters will quickly tire of liberal policies.
“There’s going to be overreach. And no one will be happy with the results,” McCormick said. “And it will swing back. It may take, two, four, six years, but I guarantee it will swing back the other way.”
Insurance Commissioner John King knows how quickly political fortunes can change. The Republican survived Trump’s wrath in 2022, only to lose to a little-known Democrat four years later.
Now he predicts the Democrats who swept him from office will struggle to live up to their promises, which includes expanding the Medicaid program, repealing anti-abortion laws and bringing tax relief.
“The next two years will be chaotic,” King said, adding that Republicans shouldn’t confuse the backlash against Trump with a permanent political realignment in Georgia.
“It is, after all, a purple state.”
But Republicans may have to get past their own divisions before they can take exploit Democratic missteps. And the finger-pointing has already begun.
Former Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore swiped at Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for congratulating Bottoms after her victory. Jones lost to Jackson in the GOP primary and refused to endorse him. Jones fired back by mockingly calling her a “sweet little poundcake.”
Kemp, at least, has already made one consequential decision about how Republicans should respond to their defeat.
He took a potentially explosive option off the table Wednesday when he announced he would not call a special legislative session to redraw political maps or undercut Bottoms’ powers before she takes office.
That avoided a bruising showdown that Bottoms warned could make Republicans look like “sore losers” and threatened to stain Kemp’s legacy just weeks before he leaves office.
But the larger debate over how Republicans should respond to the Democratic takeover is only beginning.
Veteran strategist Ryan Mahoney, a longtime Kemp aide, has some advice for his fellow Republicans: Stop pointing fingers and start figuring out how to win again.
“Backbiting and finger-pointing get us nowhere. Sabotaging Georgia Democrats as they prepare to take office won’t earn back voters’ trust. Today, we can sulk,” he said.
“Tomorrow, we must get to work recruiting strong, electable candidates and making a clear case for how Republicans will address hardworking Georgians’ most pressing concerns.”
