ATLANTA — Doors to polling precincts had barely swung shut Tuesday night when Georgia’s Democratic primary was called for Hillary Clinton.

As predicted, the former Secretary of State dominated in the state and was bolstered, in part, by strong support from minority voters.

She won 71 percent of the vote and claimed every county — except one.

Echols County, Georgia — no doubt the last place her rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, would have looked for votes — played the role of spoiler, blocking Clinton from a clean sweep in the Peach State.

But locals said Sanders’ support there likely reflects general angst with the current direction of the country and Clinton — and not so much for a self-described Democratic Socialist from New England.

“People are disgusted with the political system, and they’re ready for a change,” said Chester Register, a registered Democrat who is chairman of the county school board, who declined to say how he voted.

On the Republican side, fed-up feelings manifested as support for Trump in Echols County and throughout most of Georgia. The businessman carried all but four of the state’s 159 counties.

To be sure, voter angst and anger is feeding genuine support for Sanders elsewhere in the state.

Yearning for a different approach to governance led to close races in the Democratic primary in some North Georgia counties, in Brantley County near Brunswick and in Clarke County, home to Athens and the University of Georgia.

Fred Gould, who is active in the Georgia Democratic Party, said he was only somewhat surprised to see how well Sanders did in Murray County, near Dalton, where he lives.

Clinton only won there with 51 percent of the vote.

“There’s just a readiness for a change,” he said.

Sanders’ support among millennial voters is well-known, having boosted his campaign in college towns, such as Athens, where he won 49 percent of the vote.

But Gould said Sanders’ appeal isn’t limited to youth. Support in pockets of North Georgia was seeded beyond campuses such as Dalton State College, he said.

Sanders has “brought a sense of opportunity for folks to be involved in a way that they haven’t felt in quite some time,” Gould said Wednesday. “It’s across the board.”

Ultimately, that sentiment was not widespread enough to make the Democratic primary competitive.

Even in Echols County, a surprising show of support for Sanders may very well be explained as opposition to Clinton, according to local voters.

“Honestly, I think the question should be, ‘How did Clinton win all the other counties?'” asked Jim Carter, who chairs the county commission and voted in the Republican primary.

Sanders’ win there was also decided by just four people, in a county that mustered only about 500 voters for both primaries.

Just 70 people voted in the Democratic primary in Echols. Three-dozen cast ballots for Sanders, while 32 went for Clinton.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has quit the race but remained on the ballot, picked up a vote.

So did Michael Steinberg, a Florida lawyer who hoped his campaign for president would find an Internet fire that was never sparked.

“I would not read a lot into it,” cautioned state Rep. John Corbett, a Republican whose district includes Echols County, adding that not even one-tenth of voters cast a Democratic ballot.

Echols County is a mostly white farming community known for its carrots — hugging the Florida border, east of Valdosta — that is home to about 4,000 souls.

Democrats there, said Corbett, are rare.

In reality Democrats — or, at least, registered Democrats — govern the county.

Its constitutional officers, including the sheriff and tax commissioner, are Democrats. The county commission’s three members were all Democrats, until one recently switched and became a Republican.

But things likely are not as they appear in a county where 58 percent of Republican voters favored Trump.

Myrna Turner, the tax commissioner, said candidates typically run as Democrats more out of convenience.

That way, in local elections anyway, they face off once in a spring primary, instead of dragging out the election.

Echols County voters may overlook party politics when deciding local contests, but not when it comes to national politics. Just 16 percent of voters there supported President Barack Obama in his reelection.

Chester Register’s brother, Chandler, said he once identified as a Democrat because the party seemed to look out for blue-collar folks.

Now, he said, Democrats are “too liberal,” particularly on abortion.

Chandler Register said he voted this week for Trump.

“We’re losing our country,” he said. “You’ve got to have someone that’s strong and going to take a stand.”

 Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.