History
After the Civil War, Georgia was initially placed under a military governorship, but in 1868 the Republican Party succeeded in capturing the legislature and electing Rufus Bullock as governor. Support for the Republicans came from the 44% of the state's population that was African-American, along with whites from the mountainous north. Bullock was the first Republican governor of Georgia, but he was threatened with impeachment and fled the state in 1871, leaving the governorship to Benjamin Conley, the president of the Georgia Senate. (In modern times the lieutenant governor is the next in line if the governor cannot serve, but the role of lieutenant governor had not yet been created by that time.) Conley, the second Republican governor of the state, only lasted 72 days: the legislature quickly called a special election, and Conley was succeeded by a Democrat.
These former democrats were known as the Dixiecrats and for the first time since the civil war, broke up their huge voting power due to the issues that have plagued the South for 100 years.
In 1960, a young man came to meet Georgia Republican Campaign Chairman Jeff Davis. The young man was Newt Gingrich, freshly introducing himself into Georgia Republican politics. He envisioned a competitive Republican Party with vast influence in the nation. Chairman Davis, being optimistic and cautious, worked with this young man to ensure victorious future elections. In 1966 Republican Howard Callaway received the plurality of votes for governor but failed to win, when the election was decided by the Democratic Party-controlled Georgia legislature. In the 1970s, amid the Watergate Scandal, the rise of Democratic President Jimmy Carter from Georgia, led to the self proclaimed "dark days" for the Republican Party that led to a decade of failed elections and tough incidents. Georgia Republicans struggled through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s to become a major party, occasionally winning victories such as the election of House member Newt Gingrich in 1979. Also U.S. Senator Mack Mattingly was elected after, in 1980, only to see those gains erased in subsequent elections. In the 1990s, Georgia played a pivotal role as House Representative Newt Gingrich propelled to the top, becoming Speaker of the House, and embatting himself in a fight to impeach then President Bill Clinton. After allegations of his own marital affair, and the negative attacks against the popular President, Gingrich lost his support and resigned in 1999.
In 2002 Sonny Perdue was elected as the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. He served as Governor from 2003-2011 for two terms.
Read more about this topic: Georgia Republican Party
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