Politics

Congressman Says ‘It’s Not Hard To Understand’ Why People Are Leaving Liberal States For Republican-Run Georgia

(Screenshot/Fox News)

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Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter lamented the influx of blue-state residents that has gradually turned Georgia from a solid GOP stronghold into a purple state during a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”

After decades of reliably voting for Republican presidential candidates, Georgia narrowly selected President-elect Joe Biden in 2020.

As the state decides which party controls the U.S. Senate in a pair of hotly contested runoff elections, Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer pointed to counties which, reliably red in the past, have had an “uptick of Democratic turnout,” then asked Carter to explain what he thought was happening in the state.

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“It is easy to understand,” Carter responded. “We’ve had decades of Republican leadership and therefore we have a great state. We have a state with a high quality of life. We have a state that is creating jobs. We have a state that people want to move to.”

“What is happening is these people from the blue states — much like Texas and much like the other red states that have controlled their taxes and have maintained the high quality of life and that have created jobs — people are moving in from the blue states and then bringing their politics with them,” he continued. “It is not hard to understand at all what’s happening in the state of Georgia.”

Carter said he hopes Georgia’s more recent and more Democratic residents eventually “learn” that Republican leadership is why “they are wanting to come to this state.”

“We welcome them, but we don’t welcome their politics,” Carter said. “We’ve created jobs. Georgia has been seven or eight years in a row the most business-friendly state in the country and that’s been under Republican leadership. It’s important for people to keep that in mind. What are you moving away from? Why are you leaving California? Why are you leaving Illinois? Why are you leaving New York state? And why are you coming here?” (RELATED: Silicon Valley Giants Are Allowing Staff To Work Remote Permanently. Will Their Workers Flood Into Red States?)

While Latin American immigration helped turn California blue in the 1990s, migration from California and other Democratic strongholds has had a gradual shift on the national electoral politics of Texas, Montana, Georgia and other traditionally red states.