ATLANTA — One in five eligible Georgians have already hit the polls and cast their ballots.
While the state of Georgia is seeing record-breaking early voter turnout, Republicans and Democrats alike are still trying to rally their supporters and get them to vote.
Georgia is a major swing state, so many races will come down to who can turn out the most voters.
That’s a major reason why both sides are pulling out the big guns.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Former President Barack Obama is campaigning in College Park with Stacey Abrams and Senator Raphael Warnock on Friday night.
He did the same thing two years ago in support of now-Senators Jon Ossoff and Warnock.
“Georgia could be the place. Georgia could be the state,” Pres. Obama said two years ago.
Former Vice President Mike Pence will also come back to Georgia next week to campaign on behalf for Gov. Brian Kemp, just like he did four years ago.
Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint says Georgia is such a prominent state that both parties have to do everything they can to energize their bases to go out and vote.
“It’s game time,” he told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot.
RELATED STORIES:
- More than 1,000,000 Georgians smash early voting records
- Hispanic, Latin Georgians split down the middle on party lines, new poll shows
- Both sides pulling out big names to get people to the polls in Georgia
This all comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer appeared to be caught on an open microphone warning President Biden about concerns in Georgia.
“The state where we’re going downhill is Georgia,” he appeared to say.
Swint says it becomes even more important for Democrats to turn out their voters, particularly African Americans, and he believes Obama can do that.
“For Democrats in Georgia, it’s absolutely crucial to have high turnout of African American voters. That’s what they have to depend on. That’s when Democratic candidates statewide are the most successful,” Swint said.
Republicans need to turn out a broad collection of pro-Trump voters and more moderate voters, and Swint thinks Pence can do just that.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
IN RELATED NEWS:
©2022 Cox Media Group
