Democrats Say Georgia Looks Bleak for Biden. Can North Carolina Save Him?

Joe Biden, Raphael Warnock
Joe Biden and Raphael Warnock leave Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta after a 2023 service honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Alex Slitz/AP

Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020, stunning Republicans, infuriating Donald Trump and giving Democrats hope that they’d found a new path to the presidency through the South. But ask Democrats about Georgia today, and they might talk about North Carolina instead.

In more than a dozen interviews in recent weeks, Democratic officials have acknowledged an uncomfortable truth: With Biden’s poll numbers flagging, and without Sen. Raphael Warnock on the ballot to pull him across the finish line, the president faces a much more daunting challenge to win Georgia than he did four years ago.

“2024 is going to be an uphill battle for Biden without Warnock on the ticket,” said Le’Wanna Heard-Tucker, chair of Fulton County’s Democratic party.