Will Henry turn Democrat blue?
Some Dems say they see change coming to GOP-dominant county
By Valerie Baldowski and Daniel Silliman
At a recent rally with the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, the Henry County Democratic Party threw a few taunts at the county's GOP.
Pointing to the small but energetic crowd, John Nichols crowed: "Do you believe us now?"
Nichols, the new chairman of the county party, has a plan to turn Herny County from Republican red, to Democratic blue.
He said the change has already started, but the county's long-powerful Republican establishment won't realized what has happened for another couple of years.
"If you look at the numbers, Henry County is changing," Nichols said. "It's changing demographically, but also because people are getting tired of Republican policies."
Nichols said he's working right now to recruit solid Democratic candidates for county races in 2009 and '10, and he's working to build a base of trained volunteers. "Politics is not rocket science," he said, suggesting that a team of trained volunteers can swing elections, and the politics of a county.
In the last election, the general election of Nov. 4, there was only one Democratic candidate for a county-wide office, and the Republicans at the top of the ticket easily took Henry County. The Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, garnered 53.3 percent of the vote, despite the energy and effort of the Barack Obama campaign.
A look at the precinct-by-precinct numbers, however, show a county that's not quite as overwhelmingly Republican as it would appear.
In some places, the two parties were really close. In North Hampton, McCain earned 336 votes, and Obama earned 337. In parts of the county, Democrats are the clear majority. Obama won 83.5 percent of the vote in Shakerag; 52.3 percent in McDonough; 73.8 percent in Ellenwood; 67.7 percent in Stockbridge; and 59.5 percent in Shilo.
Henry County Republican Party Chairman Bill Herndon said he doesn't see it, though. He said there isn't any evidence the county is moving toward the Democratic side.
"I don't see anti-Republican sentiment at all," Herndon said. "We are continuing to be a stable GOP base, whereas some of our neighboring counties may not be as stable."
Herndon said the possibility of some other counties going Democratic, such as Rockdale, Clayton, Fayette, and to some degree, Newton, is more likely.
He didn't rule out any possibilities, however. "It can happen anywhere," he said.
Richard Ray, a Henry County resident and president of the state's branch of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said it is economics that is going to push Henry County into the Democratic blue.
"Parts of our county are already turning blue, especially with hard economic times. I think you're going to see a turnaround in the very near future," Ray said.
Vanessa Partee, a Democrat from Locust Grove, said the change has started. Some of her Republican neighbors have sworn off the GOP.
"I've talked to a lot of Republicans, who just said they weren't going to vote Republican any more," Partee said. "The Republican base has just narrowed, and the Democrats have been reaching out to people."
Herndon acknowledged that the Republican Party could make some adjustments going forward.
"The GOP needs to renew itself in its core values," he said, citing specific examples of fiscal responsibility, small government and local control.
State Rep. Steve Davis (R-McDonough), said the Democrats are always calling for the ouster of Republicans. "Isn't that what they always want to do?" he asked.
Davis pointed out that Republicans won most of the races in Henry County, and despite the contested race between Democrat Rudy Cox and Republican John Douglas, Douglas won.
"We hold every seat in this county," Davis said.
As far as Nichols' comments about constituents tiring of Republican rule, Davis dismissed the Democratic chairman's idea. "That's kind of [Nichols'] job to paint this picture," he said. "I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon ... It's not happening this year."
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