VALDOSTA — Betty Steedley chose Secretary of State Brian Kemp for governor because President Donald Trump chose Kemp.

When Trump stunned Georgia politicos and offered his “full and total endorsement” of Kemp in a tweet last week, there was no looking back for the Lowndes County resident in picking Kemp over fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the primary runoff race.

“I voted totally for Kemp because Donald Trump endorsed him,” she said. “I am 100 percent for what Donald Trump is doing: control the borders, immigration, gun control — he’s dead on it.”

Steedley was among more than 400,000 people who propelled Kemp to a landslide victory over the once-frontrunner Cagle, whose campaign was dogged by a secret cellphone recording that caught him saying he supported “bad public policy” to thwart another political rival.

Kemp, who entered the race with a promise of “putting Georgians first,” relentlessly capitalized on that recording. Then came the Trump endorsement, which was capped off by a stump speech from Vice President Mike Pence in Macon.

Even the backing of the state’s popular sitting governor, Nathan Deal, could not save Cagle at that point.

Once a first-place finisher in the primary who seemed destined for the governor’s mansion, Cagle won only two counties Tuesday: Stephens and Monroe. He ended the night just shy of 31 percent of the vote. In May, he had dominated with 39 percent.

Kemp finished with nearly 70 percent of the vote Tuesday. That’s after coming in second place just a couple months ago with 26 percent. In Baldwin County, home to Milledgeville and a short drive from where Pence campaigned for Kemp just a few days ago, support for Cagle fell from 37 percent in May to just 26 percent.

So how much did Trump’s surprise endorsement matter?

Kemp trailed in absentee voting but already held a significant lead in early voting, with 58 percent of those ballots going his way. But among Election Day voters, his support shot up to 75 percent. 

For Jay Wright, who owns a heating and air conditioning business in Milledgeville, Trump’s seal of approval was certainly the deciding factor. Prior to last week, when Trump made the endorsement, Wright said the two candidates were indistinguishable to him.

“I didn’t really have a preference one way or the other,” the 39-year-old said. “I support President Trump. If he puts his weight behind somebody, I respect that.”

From Lucky Jackson, also of Milledgeville: “I had that little question in the back of my mind (about Kemp), but after that, it did help.”

The outcome Tuesday was a reminder of the president’s continued popularity in Georgia, where he beat Democrat Hillary Clinton by five points in 2016. But there were also those who said they were unfazed by Trump’s meddling in Peach State politics. 

Endorsements didn’t sway Lowndes County voter Andy Bringer one way or the other, he said. He came out to vote because “I’m a patriot.” He said he voted for Cagle and knew two weeks ago he would vote for Cagle.

“I like Cagle’s history and I don’t know a whole lot about the other guy and I just didn’t like his ads,” Bringer said.

Mell Woodward of Lowndes County also didn’t care for political advertisements.

“I will say that these negative ads that people run makes me want to vote for the person they are running the ads against,” Woodward said.

Whitfield County resident Lynn Ray, who voted for Kemp, said she tuned out the endorsements. Kemp clinched the northwest Georgia county with 75 percent of the vote.

“I guess if I weighed them, Deal’s endorsement would matter more because he knows both of them and has worked with them,” Ray said. “I don’t know how well Trump knows either one of them.”

Ray said she found both candidates very similar in background and policies.

“It was difficult to choose. I thought Kemp’s ads were silly. But I didn’t like what I heard in that recording (of Cagle),” she said.

Laura Berard came out to vote “to make sure the right people get into office that are looking out for us,” she said. “I made my final decision (who to vote for) right before I came out today.”

But to the extent Trump’s endorsement may have helped Kemp Tuesday, it could also prove a liability for him moving forward as he faces Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Maureen Bryan, a Milledgeville resident who is part of a group called Baldwin Indivisible, which is focused on driving up Democratic turnout this fall, didn’t mince words when asked about the impact of Trump’s endorsement.

“Hopefully, it will be the downfall for him,” Bryan said of Kemp.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Derrek Vaughn in Valdosta and Charles Oliver in Dalton contributed to this report.