There is no need to sugar coat it. Republicans got their tail kicked last week.

The Democrats will have firm control of Georgia’s executive branch and the day to day power that comes with it. Congratulations to Governor-elect Bottoms. I encourage all to pray for her wisdom and discernment. 

Whether you voted for her or not, much of the state’s immediate future is in the hands of her and her team. We ultimately need her to succeed.

Governor Bottoms’ power will go beyond the Governor’s mansion. With Democrats also securing the Lieutenant Governor’s position, all statewide partisan offices, and the Speaker’s gavel, their power extends to the appointment of boards, commissions, agencies, and when vacancies arise, judges.

As bad as Republicans’ numbers look here in Georgia, when viewed with what happened nationally and with the differential on statewide contests, the GOP’s position here is in relative decent shape. Republicans managed to hold the thinnest majority in the State Senate with a 29-27 partisan split. The Speaker’s gavel will transfer to the Democrats with a thin majority, the exact number still to be determined due to one runoff in SW Georgia.

The margins were decisive in statewide races. They were incredibly impressive from the Democrats’ perspective, and equally demoralizing and, frankly, embarrassing for Republicans. 

The voters clearly sent a message. The clarity of what they said is always a Rorschach test. 

There are many Republicans out there explaining. I’ve seen many takes I agree with, a few… not so much.  2028 nor 2030 will not be decided by who wins the immediate blame game in this scorching failure’s aftermath.  Many Republicans will find they have a lot of extra time on their hands in January to contemplate these matters. 

Today, we have bigger and more immediate priorities. Most importantly, we have to govern. It will require both parties working together.

I’ve lived in Georgia my entire life. I’m a proud American. This is our system. Our voters are the shareholders, and they have spoken – loudly. I want what is best for my state and my country. 

Most of us just want reasonable approaches to solving problems. We want leaders who understand that, and do their best to make it happen. 

I was a relatively young volunteer operative when Republicans took the Governor’s mansion and Senate in 2022. It took two more years to get the other chamber and within a decade the GOP held a supermajority in both chambers and all statewide offices.  It took 12 years to be back where we started.

The incoming Democrats will largely be a lot like we were a quarter century ago. Most will have limited experience with state government, have a deep distrust if not intolerance of the current majority party, and want everyone out the door as soon as possible.

Some will quickly learn that beneath the level of elected and appointed partisans, there are quite a few people who show up at work every day trying to make lives better for the people of the state. Many of them have institutional knowledge that is not quickly replaceable. 

Some will remember the rhetoric and/treatment received by less congenial members of the outgoing majority party and will wield their newfound powers with the full backing of the Old Testament’s eye for an eye. That is entirely their right. They won.

The reality is some will work to solve problems. Some will use the problems to work to expand the power and scope of their positions on the way to their next higher title. This is a time honored bipartisan bifurcation of those participating in majority rule.

The hazard for Democrats now charged with governing is that their base sees the results and margins as an unequivocal mandate.  The 2024 and 2026 elections had polar opposite results because the fringe of each party convinced their leaders a voter rebuke of the last guys meant they must enact the craziest stuff imaginable. 

Governor Kemp will leave office with a roughly 70% approval rate not because he scratched every itch that the MAGA wing of his party had, but because he often said “no, Georgians don’t want that” and then took a more centrist route. Governor Bottoms will hear similar demands from her base to lurch Georgia far leftward.  

Republicans, meanwhile, do have control of the Senate. While they lost the House, there were about a dozen races decided in that chamber by less than 1,000 votes. Republicans won 7 of them, but lost a couple by less than 100 votes.  The rematch in 2 years will be extreme and expensive on both sides.

With razor thin legislative margins in both chambers, the legislature should serve to temper the excessive demands of both partisan bases. What hopefully can result will not be a red state nor a blue state, but people from different parties and backgrounds, working together for solutions for all of Georgia.

That’s always been our secret sauce. When the needs of Georgia’s citizens and the businesses who employ them are put at the forefront and our leaders commit to solving their problems, we don’t have time to notice the red or blue fingerprints while we’re all counting in green.