Hall County could become a sphere of political influence if Republicans are victorious next week.

Out of the 159 counties in Georgia, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal both call Hall County home. Add Speaker of the House David Ralston of Blue Ridge and Northeast Georgia would dominate the state's top levels of government.

It would be the first time in Georgia's history that a governor and lieutenant governor lived in the same county, and the first time the top three offices would be occupied by people from the same region.

University of Georgia Political Science Professor Charles Bullock said the geographical trifecta would be interesting, but purely coincidental.

"It's not like there's a political machine that secured this," Bullock said. "Each one has gotten there on his own."

But the serendipitous timing is even more significant when compared to the home places of Georgia's former governors and lieutenant governors.

Most of Georgia's past leaders have come from rural South Georgia counties.

"Under the county unit system, when the urban counties were kind of disenfranchised, it was easier for rural candidates to get elected," UGA history professor Jim Cobb said.

The county unit system, in place from 1917 through 1962, allotted votes by county in Georgia's primary election. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the system broke the state down into 410 unit votes, and a candidate needed 206 to win the all-important Democratic Party nomination.

For much of the 20th century, Georgia was essentially a one-party state, and almost all elections were decided in the Democratic primary.

Urban counties were allotted six unit votes each, "town" counties received four unit votes and rural counties received two unit votes each. The system gave rural counties disproportionate control during elections, reducing the power of voters in Atlanta and other cities.

"The old county unit system gets a lot of the credit for the influence South Georgia had," Bullock said. "South Georgia, at that point, the population was more evenly distributed between North and South Georgia. Now South Georgia has only about 20 percent of the votes so it's really quite disadvantaged."

Though Bullock pointed out that despite the region's less favorable position, both Gov. Sonny Perdue and Sen. Saxby Chambliss come from south of the Fall Line.

Douglas Bachtel, a professor of housing and consumer economics at the University of Georgia, said seeing three politicians from North Georgia is more in line with the state's population growth.

"The Atlanta metropolitan area has been the second-fastest growing metro area in the United States," Bachtel said. "Hall County and some surrounding environments have really had rapid growth."

Bachtel said in the late 1960s, Atlanta started to see major growth following the construction of the interstate highway system. With a larger population in North Georgia comes a greater chance of representation from the area, he said.

"What we will probably see ultimately is our elected officers will come from metro Atlanta because that's where the population is. But we aren't there yet," Bullocks said.

Having a lieutenant governor and governor from Hall County would certainly be advantageous. Past governors have helped push big projects that benefit their hometowns.

"The story going back is when they were laying out the interstate highway system, Gov. (Ernest) Vandiver was able to ensure that it went by Lavonia, which is his home," Bullock said.

Hall County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tom Oliver said having Hall County representation in the state's top offices could only help.

"I think it's a real honor for Hall County to have two people of their caliber at the head of the state. I think there will be opportunities not only for Hall County but for the entire state to move us forward in a very positive direction," Oliver said.

"I would be remiss in saying I don't think Hall County will benefit because I'm hoping that how we benefit might be just having the ability to have an ear to that office, to know those people and to work with them."