Former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden has spoken with some GOP senators, chief of staff saysTrump told advisers he could announce 2024 bid shortly after certification of Biden win: reportObama ‘troubled’ by GOP attempts to cast doubt on election results: ‘That’s a dangerous path’MORE is projected to win the presidential race in Georgia, becoming the first Democratic White House hopeful in nearly three decades to carry the state.
Multiple news outlets projected on Friday afternoon that Biden would win the state, releasing their projections 10 days after polls closed in the state amid a tight race.
Bidens apparent victory in Georgia is a historic moment for Democrats, who have long been relegated to second-place in the state. But a combination of changing demographics and rapidly growing urban and suburban populations in recent years have shifted the political playing field there, raising Democratic hopes that Georgia may soon become a new electoral battleground.
For President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden has spoken with some GOP senators, chief of staff saysTrump told advisers he could announce 2024 bid shortly after certification of Biden win: reportIvy League cancels winter sports amid US COVID-19 pandemic surgeMORE, the projected loss is a major setback in his bid for a second term. He carried Georgia in 2016 by 5 points and had hoped that strong support among rural white conservatives in the state would be enough to help him capture its 16 electoral votes.
The last Republican presidential candidate to lose Georgia was former President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
Bidens projected victory came more than a week after polls closed in the state. Officials scrambled to count thousands of outstanding absentee ballots, many of them in the Democratic strongholds in and around Atlanta and Savannah.
Early returns showed Trump taking a comfortable lead, but as new vote tallies came in, his advantage dissipated. As of Friday afternoon, Biden led Trump by more than 14,000 votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.
Trump’s campaign had filed a legal challenge last week alleging that officials in Chatham County, which includes Savannah, had illegally counted absentee ballots received after the states Election Day deadline.
Pre-election polling sheds light on Bidens support in Georgia. The former vice president benefited from broad backing from Black voters, who make up about a third of the states electorate. But he also managed to build strong support among white college graduates and suburban voters, who have moved away from Trump in recent years after backing him in 2016.
Trump, meanwhile, did little to expand his support beyond the conservative base of white voters, seeking to rally the same bloc of voters who helped him win the state four years ago.