The Times-Herald of Newnan, Coweta County writes: Cox winning over Republican voters

From The Times Herald:

Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, brought her campaign for governor to Coweta County this week for a fund-raiser reception.

A Democrat raising money in Republican territory? Yes, indeed. Some strong local Republicans, including former Republican state lawmakers Donna Brooks and Neal Shepard, were among those who were hosts for the event. Both praised Cox and said they thought she would make a good governor.

Cox is expected to do battle with Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor in the Democratic Primary next year. The winner of that battle will take on Gov. Sonny Perdue, who will be seeking a second term in office.

If Cox beats Taylor, and we think she will, we suspect there may be a lot of Republicans who will find the woman from Bainbridge, Ga., a better choice than Perdue.

Even at the Cox fund-raiser, negative comments about the Perdue administration were plentiful.

Shepard said he was excited when Perdue was elected but has since been disappointed.

Coweta Commissioner Leigh Schlumper took a jab at Perdue: "We don't always need a lot of the governor's time down here, but we'd at least like to get in to see him for a few minutes from time to time. Let me just say our access has been very limited. I think we will do much better with Cathy Cox."

We've heard others -- both locally and around the state -- expressing greater disappointment with Perdue.

It's still a long time until next November's general election for governor. But we sense Cathy Cox is already courting and winning over some Georgia Republican voters.