Georgia’s shifting politics force GOP to look beyond Atlanta

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

TOCCOA, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s Republican Party once relied on votes in Atlanta’s close-in suburbs, but today the GOP increasingly relies on the mountains of north Georgia for its votes. An analysis by The Associated Press shows a 41-county region of north Georgia now has as many GOP voters as the core of metro Atlanta. Reliance on those voters shapes the party. In a state where whites are becoming the minority, north Georgia is overwhelmingly white. While Democrats attack and Republicans fret over abortion restrictions and loose gun laws in the suburbs, there’s little public wavering in the mountains. That’s challenging Democrats, who look for votes in the region even if they’re not going to win locally.