Oconee County Less Conservative Than Its Reputation, Survey Finds

Oconee County has a reputation as a bastion of conservative Republicanism.

WGAU newsman Tim Bryant even referred to the county as “Tea Party heaven” in an interview he did on his Newsmakers program on Dec. 15.

But the characterization misses some subtleties about political sentiment in the county, a survey conducted by students in a graduate research methods class in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia shows.

The survey found that about 30 percent of registered voters in the county do identify with the Tea Party.

Only 13 percent of the voters are satisfied with the way things are going in the country.

President Barack Obama’s job approval rating among Oconee County voters is only 21 percent.

Fifty-four percent are opposed to the mandatory health coverage provision of the health reforms proposed by President Obama and passed by the Democratic Congress.

Forty-two percent consider themselves to be Republicans, and 38 percent describe themselves as conservatives.

But support for the Tea Party is not greatly different from what it is nationally, and the same is true of many of the other assessments Oconee County voters made in the survey.

For details, go to Oconee County Observations.