Greg Bluestein - Flipped : How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power

When Georgia Republicans need a go-to venue for a big celebration, there is no shortage of options around Atlanta: well-appointed conference rooms in lakeside resorts, elaborate ballrooms, the artificial turf of the College Football Hall of Fame in the heart of downtown. But none looms larger than the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlantas ritziest neighborhood. Towering over luxury malls and boutiques along the citys iconic Peachtree Road, the hotel was the site of the Republican victory party on election night 2020, where hundreds of members of the Georgia GOP sipped overpriced beers and watched returns on oversized screens while in the grip of a pandemic.

The crowd had reason to be optimistic. Republicans had shut out Democrats in every presidential election in Georgia since 1996 and hadnt lost a statewide seat since 2006. The Georgia GOP was so dominant that for much of the decade Democrats struggled to recruit even fringe candidates for some top-tier races or, worse, didnt bother running anyone at all while Republicans built commanding majorities in the state legislature and maintained control of every statewide office. Stacey Abrams might have caught some off guard in 2018 when the Democrat lost the governors race to Brian Kemp by fewer than fifty-five thousand votes. But Republicans werent taking the threat lightly this time. Even President Donald Trump had reluctantly visited the state as part of his whirlwind final campaign tour on November 1, urging Georgians at a windswept rural airport to defend his administration as he promised a great red wave would swamp Joe Biden and his Democratic supporters across the country.

Rows of mask-wearing reporters lined the walls of the InterContinentals banquet hall, while grizzled activists mingled with college interns as Fox News commentators reported the early returns from a booming speaker system: one Republican state after another had gone Trumps way, as strongholds like Alabama, South Carolina, and then, especially sweet, the contested swing state of Florida each turned a bright shade of red.

In the back of the room, a nervous Brandon Phillips paced between the partygoers. A savvy Republican strategist who had led the presidents Georgia operation for about a year during the 2016 cycle, Phillips was as comfortable hunting for wild hogs or spearfishing in shark-infested Gulf Coast waters as he was designing a campaign field strategy. His social media accounts brimmed with photos of his political exploits, none more proudly displayed than the black-and-white picture of him striding down a convention hall corridor with Trump, both grinning from ear to ear with matching thumbs-ups. Since Trumps 2016 victory, Phillips had honed a reputation as a sharp-elbowed brawler with a specialty of helping local candidates try to channel the presidents appeal.

But there was no trace of that easy smile on Phillipss face on this night as he scanned the room of tipsy revelers in search of others who shared his trepidation. Cody Hall, a young aide to Governor Brian Kemp, was also milling about the crowd with unspoken anxiety. They dont even know why they shouldnt be celebrating yet, Hall said, glancing back and forth from an election analysis on his weathered smartphone to the joyful throng in front of him.

Trump was winning the states he was expected to win. But he was falling behind in Arizona. And his numbers in Georgia werent much better. Late that night, as the celebration continued around him, Phillips peered into his phone and groaned. The New York Times needle, the tracking tool designed to predict which candidate was on track to win an election, had suddenly swung decisively toward Biden in Georgia when vote totals from heavily Democratic DeKalb County had started to come in. One nervous operative sequestered himself in an empty conference suite just outside the ballroom and dialed up an election expert. Are there really enough votes left to swing this thing? he asked.

On the second floor of the hotel, Republican senator David Perdues strategists were hunkered down in a war room, poring over numbers that would determine whether the incumbent would win a second termor be forced by Georgias peculiar state law into a runoff against his Democratic opponent, the investigative filmmaker Jon Ossoff. Perdue had won office six years earlier with a carefully cultivated outsider image that belied his familys deep roots in Georgia politics. Every so often, hed unpack the iconic jean jacket that had made him a star to Georgias right, wrap it around his broad shoulders, and take it for a spin on the trail. But the truth was, the former Fortune 500 chief executive was just as comfortable in a finely tailored suit as he was in the worn denim of his campaign ads.

Earlier in the night, exhausted aides and strategists in the war room had been bombarded with congratulations on a hard-fought victory. Unbelievable job! Its over! But Perdues most senior loyalists tamped down the premature celebration. There were still hundreds of thousands of votes to be tallied, and many would be coming from areas where Democrats dominated. One aide bolted upstairs to Perdues suite, where the senator was preparing for a victory speech, to deliver the news. Ignore what youre hearing, he told the Republican. This is going to be very, very close. Perdue sat in stony silence with his wife, Bonnie, for a few heartbeats, but he wasnt surprised. How much longer will it take? he asked.