SANDERSVILLE — Brant Kennedy said it was shortly after voting for Jimmy Carter in 1976 that he decided he could no longer support Democratic candidates.
A freshman at Young Harris College at the time, Kennedy said his Christian faith caused him to switch his support to more conservative candidates.
“After two years of his presidency, I realized I was not really a Democrat, but more aligned with the GOP,” said Kennedy, who serves as a pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in Tennille.
After graduation, he moved to Southern California, where he ended up volunteering for the Ronald Reagan campaign in 1980. He has identified as a “Reagan Republican” since.
“Reagan’s framed photo hangs today in my home office,” he said.
As he was growing up in Washington County in the 1960s and ‘70s, all the local politicians were Democrats. That remains true to this day, with every partisan, county-level position being held by politicians who run as Democrats — even if many don’t generally identify with the national Democratic Party.
“All of our local officials run as Democrats, but if you talk to many of them privately, they vote GOP in state and federal elections,” he said. “They run on the Democrat ticket due to the demographics of the county.”
Washington County is politically divided, but residents call the rural county a politically moderate place. Black residents, who make up 53% of the county’s population, typically support Democrats, while many white residents, who account for 44% of the population, back Republicans.
Republicans can’t get elected to county offices, residents say, but that’s something Kennedy said he is trying to change. He serves as the first vice chair of the local Republican Party.
“Remember, (former President Donald) Trump only lost this county in 2020 by 55 votes, and I think he is going to win it this time,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy, a former Georgia Division of Family and Children’s Services employee, is also working to help Republican Tracy Wheeler unseat longtime Democratic state Rep. Mack Jackson.
The day after the vice presidential debate, Kennedy said that after Trump serves a second term, he hopes U.S. Sen. JD Vance will run and serve as president for the next eight years.
“I really love how Vance does not let anyone rattle him, but in a very statesman way — reminding me of Ronald Reagan — he handles his opponents, including many of the liberal news media,” Kennedy said, adding that he was frustrated with the CBS News moderators.
Kennedy said he was impressed with Vance’s ability to lay out policy issues in his debate against the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, something he said he wished Trump did more of when he faced off last month against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I did not think Trump won the debate with Harris; I think that was a draw,” he said. “I think Trump let her get under his skin. I wish he had stuck more to policy and driving home that she has no real policies to bring about the utopia she spouts.”
Kennedy said Harris will “further take America down a decline” when it comes to both foreign and domestic policy.
“I do not think she is very smart. I think she will say anything, change on any policy or issue, just to dupe people and get their votes,” he said. “My bottom line on her is pretty much what I think of (former President) Jimmy Carter — a buffoon.”
Kennedy said Harris has no plan to enact the types of policies she’s pushed, but Trump’s policies made people’s lives better. He’s even designed and purchased two billboard advertisements saying, “You know you were better off under Trump!”
“I’ve seen Harris supporters asked about what she’s done well, and also how she’s going to bring about the utopian things she’s promised, and one after the other did not know. She just makes them feel good,” Kennedy said. “Trump has four years of excellent policies we lived under that he will bring back, and those policies really will make America a greater nation.”
