Once a solidly red state, demographic and political trends have made Georgia friendlier to Democrats in recent cycles.
ATLANTA—Voters in Georgia have been inundated with appeals for their support—campaign rallies, texts, and calls encouraging them to donate to one candidate or the other, and perpetual advertisements—for months now.
Billboards, yard signs, and bumper stickers expressing support for one candidate or the other litter Buckhead, a neighborhood to the north of Atlanta’s city center.
Several Atlanta residents told The Epoch Times they’re sick of it, and look forward to the end of the election season.
With Election Day just a day out, many have already cast their ballot in the Peach State.
According to the Georgia secretary of state, more than 4 million Georgians, more than 55 percent, of the state’s 7.28 million active voters, have voted early or by absentee ballot.
While Georgia was once a solidly red state, demographic and political trends have made the state friendlier to Democrats in recent cycles.
In 2020, candidate Joe Biden received Georgia’s 16 electoral voters by a razor-thin 0.24 percent margin, or just 11,779 votes. It marked the first time since 1992 that a Democrat carried the Peach State.
Also in 2020, Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) won their Senate bids, the first time Georgia had two Democrats in the Senate since 2003. Two years later, Warnock again beat off a challenge from former football star Herschel Walker.
But though Democrats have had a run of good luck in the state in recent years, maintaining that edge this year could be difficult due to demographic shifts toward former President Donald Trump, particularly among young men and black voters.
Trump’s strategy involves seizing as many new votes among these demographics as possible, along with ensuring that he increases turnout in the 129 Georgia counties that backed him in 2020.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s strategy, meanwhile, hinges on high turnout in the areas around Atlanta and other urban centers, staunching the bleeding among crucial demographics, and increasing her share among women and college-educated whites, who have shifted to be more favorable to Democrats in recent cycles.
By Joseph Lord, Stacy Robinson, John Haughey
