When Rep. Doug McKillip (R-Athens) decided to switch his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican 18 months ago, he stirred up anger and resentment among many of the colleagues he left behind.

How intense is that resentment? Intense enough that progressive-minded Democrats living in Atlanta, nearly 70 miles removed from McKillip’s legislative district, are attending fundraisers in support of his Republican primary opponent, Athens attorney Regina Quick.

Quick drove to Atlanta on a recent Sunday afternoon for one of those fundraisers at a private home near Emory University. The event drew numerous people who had probably never contributed to a Republican candidate before but who were eager to hear Quick discuss her campaign against McKillip.

The host committee for the fundraiser included such Democratic lawmakers as Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) and Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), as well as former Atlanta City Council member Panke Bradley Miller.

Bob Smith, a Watkinsville Republican who represented Oconee County for 12 years before stepping down from the Georgia House, was another of the honorary hosts for the event.

McKillip angered Democrats by bolting the party just days after he ran for and was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. He has also irritated Republicans like Smith because he redrew his legislative district, which had been contained entirely within the confines of Athens-Clarke County, to take in slices of Republican areas in surrounding Oconee, Jackson and Barrow counties.

“Bob Smith and Lynn Westmoreland worked hard to finally get a House map where all of Oconee was in one district,” Quick said. “Now it’s been split up again.”

McKillip especially angered women’s groups by sponsoring the controversial measure, HB 954, that criminalizes abortions performed after 20 weeks, on the grounds that they allegedly result in “fetal pain.” (Gov. Nathan Deal subsequently signed the bill into law.)

The invitation to Quick’s Atlanta fundraiser included this exhortation, written by one of the Democratic women setting up the event: “HB 954, authored by Representative Doug McKillip—‘Dweeby’ to those who understand him—was not about health care or choice, it was a raw grab for power. He is being positioned for higher leadership. We cannot allow this to happen. He must be stopped. Now!”

Quick noted that McKillip did not co-sponsor an identical abortion bill, HB 89, that was introduced by Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) in the 2011 session, and he did not pre-file a bill to restrict abortions prior to the convening of the 2012 session.

McKillip only introduced HB 954 on Feb. 8, about three weeks after Quick announced she would run against him in the Republican primary. She contends that his primary motivation in this tardy introduction of the bill was to curry favor with the voters in a Republican-leaning district.

“He’s an opportunist—that’s the only political party he belongs to,” Quick said. “I’m a real Republican.”

Quick was unapologetic in telling the Democrats at her fundraiser that she admired the work of people like Debbie Dooley, who are involved in the various Tea Party groups. She also added that she will be an independent voice in the House and not merely a member of Speaker David Ralston’s “team.” (Ralston is helping out McKillip with some of his fundraisers.)

She was able to close the sale, as evidenced by the checks that were written out to her. She earlier had received contributions from Democrats like Doug Haines, a former state senator from Athens, and Athens Mayor Nancy Denson, whose daughter is Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta).

Athens-area Democrats attempted to recruit a candidate such as former mayor Heidi Davison to run against McKillip, but to no avail. Democrats will take their shot at McKillip by backing Quick in the Republican primary, which will make this a race to watch.

Tom Crawford [email protected]

Tom Crawford is editor of The Georgia Report, an Internet news service at gareport.com that reports on government and politics in Georgia.