As of November 2002, the long minority party Georgia GOP, had won just two upset victories for governor and U.S. senator. Incumbent Democrats Governor Roy Barnes and U.S. Senator Max Cleland both led in almost every poll heading into the election by double digits.
Downticket wins narrowed majorities in the State House and State Senate for Democrats in 2004 as the GOP captured a majority in the State Senate.
After nearly 150 years in the minority (since Reconstruction), the Georgia Republican Party was building a broad coalition of conservatives, Chamber of Commerce business owners and centrists, suburban women, libertarians, independents, and simply voters seeking a change after a seemingly endless run of one-party rule.
Democrats were stunned and caught flatfooted, and continued to lose congressional seats (which had become majority GOP in the 1994 midterms). From 2004 forward, Team Blue would find itself on the losing end of most statewide races and an increasing number of contests beyond the state as sheriffs, county commissions, and even municipal races (the latter officially nonpartisan) swung to the GOP.
But more recently, GOP activists and state party leadership have moved from the days of Ronald Reagan’s “Big Tent” to a series of loyalty oaths and litmus tests, as well as censured each of Georgia’s GOP governors at state conventions, for breaking with what some considered violating party dogma or principle.
This spring, the same shrinking and more uber-conservative state party censured its own house speaker (Jon Burns), lionized an egotistical and stunt-driven state senator, and officially “forbade” a twice elected Republican secretary of state from seeking future office as a Republican.
An intra-GOP divide over the results of the 2020 presidential election contest in Georgia continues to fester like a long-simmering family feud. Trump acolytes on the state election board have sought a new U.S.Justice Department review of 2020 Fulton County ballots and recounts.
President Donald Trump was then focused on overturning or stalling the January 6th certification of the Electoral College results in 2020.
On January 5, about 400,000 Georgia GOP voters, who had warned that the voting machines were easily rigged, sat out two U.S. Senate runoffs. The Senate contest and Kemp’s appointment of interim Senator Kelly Loeffler, with Trump backing former Congressman Doug Collins, was the start of a multi-year feud (mostly one-sided) between the governor and then former president.
Yet, Kemp is again embracing and supporting a virtual unknown in Georgia politics and the state GOP. Derek Dooley officially joined the GOP Senate race field, along with two well-regarded MAGA-focused members of Congress: Buddy Carter and Mike Collins. One can easily note the echoes and slight pattern of play from the previous senate contest.
Carter and Collins are both well-established as Trump loyalists, each with their own bases and deep war chests. Collins is the second generation of his family to serve Georgia in Congress, following his father and fellow trucking industry executive, Mac Collins.
Kemp has made his planned support for Dooley clear, causing well-regarded Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King to almost immediately withdraw from the race. Derek is the son of UGA Coach Vince and Barbara Dooley, beloved by hundreds of thousands among Bulldog Nation and UGA alumni. Vince at least twice considered runs for statewide office but stayed in his lane of NCAA sports.
Derek Dooley has spent much of the past two decades not living in Georgia. While living in New York State, he was not a registered Republican. He has missed voting in many election cycles, and he has never been a Trump campaign donor. These facts position him firmly as a Trump supporter.
In a political party led by perhaps its most transactional president in history, it is hard to divine a path placing Dooley ahead of either Carter or Collins when it comes to Trump’s nod or favor.
But the Brian Kemp of 2025 is a much more established and proven governor than in 2019, and his senior staff from those days now surround Dooley.
But perhaps the biggest obstacle to overcome for a former coach, who followed his father and uncle into the family business, is that he coached across state lines for three seasons at Tennessee. His time in Sanford Stadium and at UGA was limited to that of a fan in the stands or the son of Coach Dooley on the sidelines. And that is long outnumbered by his days wearing orange and singing Rocky Top.
There is only one GOP standard-bearer who can carry votes and proudly wear orange in Georgia — and he isn’t going to be on any ballots this time around.