As the U.S. House descended deeper into dysfunction earlier this month amid a far-right revolt, generations of top Georgia Republicans stood shoulder to shoulder at the Governor’s Mansion to celebrate the state’s economic growth.

Gov. Brian Kemp and his aides couldn’t have anticipated that the rebellion against soon-to-be-former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would be put to a vote at the same moment his celebratory event began on the steps of the Buckhead estate.

But as Kemp stood beside former Gov. Nathan Deal, first lady Marty Kemp and a trio of economic development commissioners, the contrast between the tumult in Washington and relative stability in Atlanta was on display.

“Shout it from the rooftops,” said Jay Morgan, a former Georgia GOP executive director who is no fan of the hard-line wing of his party. “On a day when Congress is dysfunctional, Georgia shines.”

Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC

Credit: Greg Bluestein/AJC

It served as a striking example of how mainstream Republicans in Georgia have managed to sideline the far-right elements in their party, in contrast with the Donald Trump-inspired chaos in Washington.

Of course, Georgia Republicans haven’t been immune from upheaval in their ranks since Kemp and his allies defeated Trump-backed primary challengers and swept to reelection wins in November.

The political chasm between MAGA loyalists and more mainstream Republicans still shape the party’s politics, and Trump-aligned conservatives control much of the party’s grassroots machinery.

In Washington, the most prominent member of Georgia’s House delegation is U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Trump acolyte who is one of the former president’s most vocal defenders.

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But in statewide politics, their influence has been muted. Efforts to punish Kemp after he refused to overturn Trump’s 2020 defeat in Georgia failed. An attempt to install a more combative Republican as state House speaker fell flat.

And in a telling episode, state Sen. Colton Moore was ousted from the Georgia Senate’s GOP caucus — a pillar of conservative politics — after harassing colleagues who refused to sign onto his doomed effort to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for indicting Trump.

Trump is still popular among Georgia Republicans — he tallied 57% of the vote in the latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll. But his loyalists struggle to hold sway under a Gold Dome dominated by Kemp and his allies.

University of Georgia political scientist Audrey Haynes credited lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who hold dear the “long-term stability of the state.”

“There is a culture of pride in the fact that most of our legislators are thoughtful, pragmatic people who can work together to solve issues,” she said, even if it means taking political heat.

Mainstream, not moderate

That’s not to suggest Republican statewide leaders are moderate.

Since Kemp’s 2018 election, Georgia Republicans have adopted new abortion limits, loosened firearms regulations, passed restrictions on medical treatments for transgender youth, targeted “far-left” prosecutors and fought pandemic-era mandates.

And Kemp would recoil at the idea that he is a middle-of-the-road politician, framing himself as a die-hard conservative during last year’s primary even as he courted support from swing voters during the general election.

Indeed, Kemp’s brand may have easily been described as far-right not long ago — before Trump reshaped much of the Republican Party in his own image.

Even so, Kemp has taken strident new steps to marginalize hard-liners since his reelection while promoting his blueprint for victory in 2024.

The governor broke from the state GOP after its leaders courted Trump-backed primary challengers and promoted false claims about the 2020 election, and he presented his homegrown political machine as a robust alternative.

A Trump-inspired effort to carve out a new Buckhead City was quashed after Kemp’s office raised legal concerns. And a fresh push for paper ballots embraced by Trump enthusiasts was quickly shot down.

Few episodes show the limits of the far-right fringes as clearly as the saga of Moore, who tried to take a page out of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s playbook by going to war with fellow Republicans.

Credit: TNS

Instead of provoking a Gaetz-styled revolt, Moore found few allies in the Legislature for his effort to force Willis’ removal and was widely chastised by rank-and-file Republicans.

Kemp quickly called out the freshman senator, accusing him of engineering “a grifter scam” to raise campaign money, and Moore was tossed from the GOP Senate caucus for attacking his colleagues.

“Nobody’s worried about what he’s thinking,” Kemp said about Moore in a recent interview. “We have to stay focused on things that will win us elections. And it’s not talking about all this.”

Meanwhile, top state Senate Republicans found themselves isolated after they filed a formal complaint to sanction Willis — a tactic that Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns both publicly opposed.

A fight for clout

Georgia’s pro-Trump wing could gain steam as the next election nears.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is perhaps the most prominent Trump-aligned Republican in the state, and he is pressing new ways to assert his influence ahead of a potential run for governor in 2026.

Despite their long and tortured history, Kemp said he’ll still back Trump if he wins the party’s nomination, showing the limits of his divorce from MAGA-style politics.

“We must stop allowing cowardice and selling out in politics if we want to maintain our brand,” said Alex Johnson, a leader of an ultraconservative faction that wants Republicans to take a more confrontational approach.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

University of North Georgia political scientist Nathan Price can’t help but look north to Ohio, where powerful mainstream Republicans have largely been supplanted by populists as they retire or seek new office.

“Right now, the leadership in Georgia is actively seeking to punish politicians such as Moore who are not following their playbook for winning this competitive swing state,” Price said. “But I’d be really interested to see if this can last once Kemp is not at the helm.”

Still, political strategist Fred Hicks predicts that Georgia’s swing-state status could help establishment-friendly Republicans hold the party’s right flank in check.

Democrats scored stunning victories in the 2020 presidential race and 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs by wooing voters who revile Trump’s politics, forging a durable bloc of split-ticket voters who helped decide last year’s midterm.

“Simply put,” he said, “Republicans with statewide ambitions know they cannot win anymore by simply running to the right.”