MILLEDGEVILLE – Wanda Hester was already leaning toward voting for Secretary of State Brian Kemp over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle as her pick for governor.

But when President Donald 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 Baldwin County resident.

“I think (Kemp) speaks his mind and I think he listens to people – little people, average people like us,” the retiree said. “He understands where we’re coming from and we can relate to that. Cagle doesn’t have a clue, and he’s not in it for the people.”

Hester was among the 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 wooed conservatives with his 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.

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

Kemp, meanwhile, 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 in this round of voting.

So how much did Trump’s surprise endorsement in a GOP primary matter?

Kemp trailed in absentee voting but already held a significant lead in early voting, with 58 percent of those ballots cast through last Friday going his way. Among Election Day voters, though, support for him 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 Wednesday, when Trump made the endorsement, Wright said the two GOP 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 67-year-old Lucky Jackson, also of Milledgeville: “I had that little question in the back of my mind (about Kemp), but after that, it did help.”

Trump’s endorsement also won over Betty Steedley down in Lowndes County, where Kemp swept with 68 percent of the vote.

“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.”

To be sure, Tuesday’s outcome 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.

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.

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.

Abrams, who easily won the Democratic nod in May, will become the country’s first black female governor if elected this November.

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 CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com. Derrek Vaughn in Valdosta and Charles Oliver in Dalton contributed to this report.