A very (very) early straw poll for Georgia's 2018 governor's race

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Gulch

The metro area already has more than half of the state's population.

55% of the population and 65% of the GRP.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Georgia hasn't had a non-conservative governor since ever in its existence. The parties themselves gradually switched roles, starting around the Civil Rights era. Democrats used to be the social conservative/segregationist party, thus were the southern party. Republicans were the northern party, more progressive and abolitionist, etc. George Wallace was a Democrat. Lincoln, T. Roosevelt and even up through Eisenhower were liberal Republicans.

Even if Georgia gets a Democratic governor, it would be a moderate to conservative, not a liberal. Jason Carter is anti- gun control, for example.

Georgia has had mostly liberal governors. That group includes Sonny Purdue and Nathan Deal. Only two governors, Bullock and Conley, were conservative.

I will save the discussion of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Eisenhower being liberals for another forum.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Georgia has had mostly liberal governors. That group includes Sonny Purdue and Nathan Deal. Only two governors, Bullock and Conley, were conservative.

Um, no.

Deal is perhaps a moderate Republican. Relatively for the South, anyway. He has pivoted to a reasonable center ground opposed to the far right on a couple of controversial issues in his second term, made politically easier by the fact that he's term-limited.

But just look at practically ANY of this long list of stuff:

Nathan Deal on the Issues

Pretty sure liberals generally don't refuse to expand Medicaid.

And Sonny Purdue... that guy was to Deal's right.

Roy Barnes was a moderate Democrat. And a mere Methodist instead of the usual Southern Baptist. And only a one-term governor.

Zell Miller was a right wing conservative Democrat. A dead breed now, these days.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Um, no.

Miller, Barnes, Purdue, and Deal are mostly liberal. Miller would be the most conservative and the most successful among them. They are who they are.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Forhall

I'm assuming there's no chance maybe we could get a Democrat governor and not spend 4+ years in the dark ages? Or is Kemp a northeastern style Republican?

Democrats still seem to be many years away from being able to compete for statewide office at a level high enough to have a legitimate shot at winning a statewide race.

With a continuing lack of organizational infrastructure (especially when compared to the relatively somewhat robust organizational infrastructure of the state's current dominant political party, the Republican Party) and a continuing notable lack of consensus about which way the party should proceed forward, Democrats appear to be about a decade or so away (give or take a few years) from being competitive enough to have a legitimate shot at winning a statewide race in Georgia.

Originally Posted by fieldm

So who will be the best gov out this list for Atlanta?

Georgia Lt. Governor Casey Cagle seems to have much support from the metro Atlanta and North Georgia business communities because of his stated desire to lead a state takeover and privatization of MARTA as a means of expanding transit service throughout the entire Atlanta region and throughout much of the northern part of the state.

As a former chairman of the ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission) and the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens supported a regional approach to solving many regional problems, including transportation. But like primaltech alluded to earlier, Olens is Jewish (a suburban Atlanta Jew) which is something that likely works against him in a state dominated by exurban and rural Southern Baptist voters. Olens is also rumored to be the frontrunner for the job as the next president at Kennesaw State University, so it is not clear that Olens may hold aspirations for higher office after being state attorney general.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp gets much support from rank-and-file conservative Georgia voters for making Georgia (and the Atlanta media market) a major player in the presidential primary process with his "SEC Primary" that played a lead role in deciding the outcome of the presidential primaries. Despite the massive voter data breach in his office late last year, Secretary Kemp seems to be the rising star on the list of 2018 GOP gubernatorial hopefuls.