Ga. political shift forces GOP to look past Atlanta

(12 Sep 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toccoa, Georgia - 2 September 2022
1. Exterior of coffee shop
2. Come in we're open sign
3. Dennis Bell, owner of coffee shop and county commissioner, speaks with customers
4. Breakfast times sign
5. Kemp Governor sign
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Bell, Stephens County Commissioner:
"My family was the old Blue Dog Democrats for many, many years. When I was a small child. When I got in my teenage years, most of them started swapping over to the Republican Party. I have actually talked to a few of them about that and they say that they like the party's decision making process and their ability to stick together to try to to work across the aisle and make things happen for the American people. After hearing that and talking to other folks, that's one reason I run Republican here in Stephens County."
7. Kemp for governor sign in window
8. American flag waving in wind
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Bell, Stephens County Commissioner:
"But the split between the Republican Party seems to be getting narrower. And I think by November that you're going to see a great turnout by the Republican Party."
10. Wide shot of main street in Historic Toccoa
11. Historic Toccoa sign hung on pole
12. Wide of street in historic Toccoa
13. "Yall come eat" sign in restaurant window
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jay Doss, Toccoa Resident:
"This is more of a working-class area, and I think working class people are benefited more by a conservative party."
15. "Shop Small" sign in window of storefront
16. Clothing hanging on rack
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Keka Burtch, Toccoa Resident:
"Before I was a Democrat, but I think I'm more right now- it can go either way. It depends on what are the politicians saying."
18. Historic Toccoa sign
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Keka Burtch, Toccoa Resident:
"I don't vote as much care as much about locally because it's so Republican based."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Clayton, Georgia – 28 July 2022
20. Rabun County democrat speaking with audience – UPSOUND (English): "I need two more people to vote Democrat. That is how we did it."
21. Woman sits in audience next to Stacey Abrams poster
22. Stacey Abrams speaks to audience at event
23. Woman in audience listens
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Vicki McMurrough, White County resident:
"There's a few places where we have sort of like Democratic strongholds. And frankly, a lot of us showed up here today. So it's hard to see the difference, I'm not going to lie, I wish we could see it, but we see the difference in in what happens. Like they were saying, the percentage of people that Democrats that are getting out to vote, even in the rural counties seems to be improving. So that's real positive."
25. Woman listens in audience
26. Wide shot of audience
STORYLINE:
Georgia's Republican Party, which once relied on votes in Atlanta's close-in suburbs, increasingly relies on the mountains of north Georgia for its votes.
A 41-county region of north Georgia now has as many GOP voters as the core of metro Atlanta, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
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.
Democrats have been trying to rebuild. They note that even if they're not going to win locally, each additional vote counts statewide.
AP Video by Sharon Johnson
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