Brian Kemp says Georgia Republicans must 'run like we're hungry again' to counter Democratic gains in the state

The governor was in November of last year. In what used to be a solidly Republican area, Brian Kemp of Georgia won the race for governor by a narrow margin.

In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump by roughly 12,000 votes, and in January of the following year, both the Senate and House of Representatives were won by Democrats.

The purple battleground of the Peach State became truly competitive for both political parties as it transitioned into a hint of blue.

The Georgia of 2012 is not the Georgia of 2022.

During a recent campaign event in Toccoa, Ga., Kemp made the case that the upcoming election will test the strength of the GOP as the party must now compete in a state that has changed dramatically in recent years.

The governor said that they had been in control for a while. We have to run like we are hungry again.

"We have to have the ground game to do that as well because we have to bring that mentality back, that work ethic back, and we have to bring that mentality back," he said. The Democrats have defeated us. We are not going to allow that to happen.

Many of the firmly Republican suburbs around Atlanta have taken on a bluer hue as some of those voters turned away from the GOP during the Trump presidency, but Kemp contends that the party must fight hard for their victories once again.

Republicans have been in control of the Governor's Mansion and the Senate for the last decade. After winning control of the state House of Representatives in 2004, the party has held the gavel ever since.

Georgia has been at the forefront of voter registration for a long time and is hoping citizens will give her a boost.

Kemp, a former secretary of state, is trying to win reelection in a state that may have become more competitive, but still has a strong base of conservative voters who didn't vote in the first round.

A key race that could determine which party controls the United States Senate is this fall's contest between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.