The district has a heavy Republican lean. Donald Trump carried the district with almost 78 percent of the vote in 2016, his fourth-best showing in the nation. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+22, it is one of the most Republican districts in Georgia.[4] The district swung rapidly into the Republican column after Since then-congressman and future governor Nathan Deal switched parties in 1995. Since then, no Democrat running in the district has crossed the 40 percent mark, and only one Democrat has won as much as 30 percent.
Republicans are no less dominant at the state and local level. It was one of the first areas of Georgia where old-line Southern Democrats began splitting their tickets. Despite this, even as the district turned increasingly Republican at the national level (Jimmy Carter is the only Democratic presidential candidate to carry the district since 1960), conservative Democrats still held most local offices well into the 1990s. However, after Deal's party switch, Republicans gradually eroded the Democratic advantage, with the help of other party switchers. By the early 21st century, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level.
Much of this district was the 10th district from 2003 to 2007; it became the 9th once again in a mid-decade redistricting.