Georgia is a battleground state — when the elections involve Donald Trump.
The South’s preeminent swing state delivered national victories for Democrats in recent years, flipping to President Joe Biden and giving the party a Senate majority. But it looks different in-state. Republicans control both chambers of the General Assembly and the prominent statewide offices, unlike in Wisconsin, Arizona or Pennsylvania, each considered important dominoes for November’s general election.
Trump makes things complicated for the GOP, although he’s beloved by Georgia’s conservative base. He narrowly leads Biden in most polls in the state, but a 2023 poll of Georgia voters gave him a lower approval rating as president than Gov. Brian Kemp as governor. The former president turns many moderate and swing voters off for political or personality reasons. Well-respected Georgia first lady Marty Kemp even said this month that she would write in her husband’s name rather than vote for Trump in November.