RINGGOLD, Ga. – If Republicans Nathan Deal and Casey Cagle are elected Georgia’s next governor and lieutenant governor, the North Georgia mountains would be well represented in the state’s highest elected offices.
Northwest Georgia Republican lawmakers say that could help their region, but Deal’s and Cagle’s Democratic rivals say that’s not how it’s been so far.
Deal and Cagle are both from Gainesville, located on the front lines where Atlanta’s suburbs meet the mountains. Republican Speaker of the House David Ralston, who was elected speaker in January, hails from Blue Ridge in Fannin County.
On the Democratic ticket, gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes is from Cobb County in metro Atlanta. Lieutenant governor candidate Carol Porter is from Wrightsville, Ga., 60 miles east of Macon.
State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, called the potential scenario a “trifecta” and said it would be the first time he or his colleagues know of in which governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House would be North Georgians.