Editing Nathan Deal (section)

===Elections===
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2018}}
Deal was first elected to Congress in November 1992 as a Democrat, succeeding eight-term incumbent [[Edgar Jenkins|Ed Jenkins]] in {{ushr|Georgia|9}}. He was re-elected as a Democrat in 1994.

However, on April 11, 1995, shortly after Republicans assumed control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, Deal joined the Republican Party, which was led by Speaker [[Newt Gingrich]], a fellow Georgian. Years later, Gingrich said that Deal became a Republican because he liked what he saw in the [[Contract With America]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Georgia-Congressman-Deserts-Demos-Nathan-Deal-3038357.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811212500/http://articles.sfgate.com/1995-04-11/news/17801241_1_change-parties-democrats-gop|url-status=live|archive-date=August 11, 2011|title=Georgia Congressman Deserts Demos/Nathan Deal is third to switch to GOP since Nov. 8|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 11, 1995|access-date=July 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|SCGYyZMOfEc|Newt Gingrich talks about Nathan Deal}} in campaign video for Deal's gubernatorial bid.</ref>

Deal was handily re-elected in his first election as a Republican in the 1996 general election, even though Jenkins endorsed his Democratic opponent, attorney and state representative [[McCracken Poston|McCracken "Ken" Poston]], who represented much of the congressional district's northwestern portion. This was the first time his district had elected a Republican for a full term since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]]. Only one other Democrat besides Poston has won even 30 percent of the vote since Deal switched parties.

Deal was unopposed for re-election in 1998, 2002, and 2004 and defeated an underfunded Democratic candidate in 2000. His district was renumbered the 10th District in 2003, but became the 9th again after a mid-decade redistricting in 2006.

The 9th had turned increasingly Republican at the federal level; apart from Jimmy Carter, a Democratic presidential candidate last carried it in 1960. However, conservative Democrats continued to hold most local offices as well as most of its seats in the General Assembly. However, Republicans began whittling away elected posts in the 1990s, helped by party switchers like Deal. By the turn of the millennium, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level in the district.

In November 2006, Deal was re-elected 77%–23%. His Democratic opponent was John Bradbury, a former elementary school teacher turned truck driver. His district, already heavily Republican, became even more Republican after the mid-decade redistricting pushed it further into the Atlanta suburbs.