GIBSON, Ga. — For political watchers outside of Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp’s crossover appeal in the battleground state has become a thing of fascination. After weathering years of bitter attacks from former President Donald Trump, he won his GOP primary by more than 50 points, and still managed to win over Democrats in his rout of Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams later that year.
Kemp’s popularity has continued since his reelection. In The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s most recent poll, the governor is the most popular politician in the state of either party at any level with a 56% approval rating, compared to 46% for Trump.
The governor’s numbers are not based on soaring rhetoric or the mass appeal of his most conservative policies. A majority of Georgians opposed the six-week abortion ban he signed in 2019, while roughly 70% disapproved of his bill to end the requirement to carry a firearm in the state.
But even the Georgians upset by those policies will tell you Kemp has one quality that any effective leader requires, yet is rarely revealed until well after Election Day. Kemp, we have learned, is very good in a crisis and he’s had plenty of chances to show that in his six years on the job.
Whether it was Trump’s attacks on the state’s election results in 2020, reopening the state during the COVID-19 pandemic before that, or the hurricanes, floods or freezes that never seem to stop, Kemp has used a no-frills, heads-down approach to manage disasters in the state. He has also often seemed to ignore the political consequences of his actions, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 elections, which has ingratiated him to a broad swath of Georgians, no matter their politics.
That quality was on display earlier this week after Hurricane Helene ripped through Georgia and left 33 people dead, 8,000 power poles snapped and nearly 100 counties from Valdosta to the North Georgia mountains in various forms of devastation.
With the November elections weeks away, Trump was the first national candidate on the scene Monday in Valdosta, where he promptly, and falsely, accused President Joe Biden of ignoring Kemp and Georgia’s many needs.
“The federal government, I guess, is being very unresponsive … they’re having a very hard time getting the president on the phone, he won’t get on,” Trump said of Biden.
In reality, Kemp had spoken with Biden the day before and he told reporters about it.
“The president called me yesterday afternoon,” Kemp said at a separate briefing on Helene recovery efforts. “He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’”
The dueling narratives made national news, so I caught up with Kemp as he surveyed damage in the tiny city of Gibson (population 622) earlier this week to ask him about the political storm swirling over storm recovery efforts.
“Look, I’m just trying to serve my people. I’m not worried about politics right now,” Kemp said. “People ask me about polls. I’m more worried about power poles than presidential polls.”
The need in Gibson was obvious as soon as the Kemp caravan approached. Power lines were stretched to the ground by massive fallen oak and pines trees. Residents were still without power, water and cellphone service, while gas was in short supply.
With so much devastation, whatever Trump did or didn’t say about Biden hardly mattered to the people in Gibson, who had no power to see it play out on TV and no time to care about it if they had.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Helene is not Kemp’s first hurricane, and he said he learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in 2019 how badly it can go for a state when partisan fights become a part of the equation.
“I can’t remember the exact politics of what was going on, but Trump was in the White House and there was not a lot of bipartisan cooperation on the legislation … It was not good,” Kemp said. “I think after going through all that Congress decided we cannot make these things political.”
For Kemp’s visit to Gibson that day, he included the Republican congressman for the area, U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, and its Democratic state representative, Mack Jackson.
It was also one of dozens of towns and cities Kemp visited with first lady Marty Kemp over several days to find out which needs are being met and what people still need going forward.
After the White House initially included just 11 of 90 requested Georgia counties in its initial federal disaster declaration, Kemp said he called to tell them more needed to be added quickly, which they were. Biden said Thursday during a visit in Valdosta that all 90 would eventually be included.
“As far as I’m concerned right now, we’re pretty good on the FEMA side of things,” Kemp said.
Getting back to normal could take months or years for some communities and Kemp said he’s learned to be on the ground to see what people are struggling with.
“We’ve also been brutally honest with people. We’re not miracle workers,” he said. “We can’t just snap our fingers and get power back on.” But hearing and seeing people’s needs firsthand helps the state deliver on them.
The Trump campaign announced Thursday that the former president would be back in Georgia on Friday, this time with Kemp, for another disaster-focused trip. It would be the first time since the 2020 elections that the two have been together.
It won’t be a campaign rally, but it’s bound to anger people who say Trump politicizes just about everything he does. But with an even chance of being the next president, there’s no benefit to Georgia’s recovery efforts in keeping him away. And with a potential run for higher office in his own future someday, mending fences with Trump has become imperative for Kemp.
The governor said years of trying to keep his own business afloat during the recession taught him a lesson about moving forward during a crisis that he’s relied on as governor.
“You have to learn how to grind through things,” he said, adding, “I guess you could say I’m battled-tested, or we are.”
Back in Glascock County, a woman walked into the room where Kemp met with local officials next to the town’s makeshift water distribution area and breathed a sigh of relief. “It finally feels like the cavalry is coming.”
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