How Georgia Became Red

State’s partisan shift to red trickled over time
By Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, October 03, 2008

Sixteen years ago, Georgia was on the blueish side of purple, a state where voters went for a Democratic president, and the party controlled a preponderance of federal and state offices.

Today, Georgia is dirt red, with Republicans controlling the General Assembly and a majority of statewide and federal seats. And that November day in 1992 was the last time Georgia sent a Democrat to the White House.

The wholesale shift from Democrat to Republican was not a sudden change, a levee break, although there were days of deluge that contributed to the flood. And it was not all political, or, at least, not all ideological.

Some, Democrats mostly, believe the state could be in the early stages of a shift back the other way, based on population changes and a gradual morphing of ideology away from the social conservatism that once dominated the GOP. Only time will tell.

The state has changed in 16 years. It’s grown with gusto within the same borders in many, and varied, ways.

How things were altered —- from people who were there.

Full article here: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2008/10/03/gachanges.html