(The Center Square) – Republican Donald Trump has been declared the winner in Georgia, with all precincts reporting.
The nation’s 45th president picked up 16 electoral college votes from the state against Democrat opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump clinched the 270 needed to win early Wednesday morning. The Associated Press made its call at 5:34 a.m. Eastern on the strength of winning battleground Wisconsin.
Trump lost the state in 2020 by just 11,000 votes. He currently leads Harris 2.6 million votes to her 2.5 million.
Historic levels of early voting likely played a role in flipping the state for the Republican. Between absentee and early voting, 56% of all the state’s registered voters had already voted before the polls opened on Election Day.
With the state’s 7 million registered voters, that meant that over 4 million voted. According to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, nearly every day of voting was a record-breaker for the state.
Rural counties led the early turnout. Women were also more likely than men to vote.
Black voters have long been a significant voting bloc for Democrats, though there have been growing concerns about Harris maintaining that vote.
Georgia is considered one of seven consensus battlegrounds. North Carolina was another nearing a conclusion, including having been called by some outlets.
Of the last dozen polls out of the state reported by Project 538, the Republican led them all. While many were well within the statistical margin of error, he led some by as much as 3% to 5%.
This year continues the trend from the past few elections of Trump outperforming the polls. According to Project 538’s polling average, Trump was leading Harris by just 0.8% going into Election Day.
Many were grateful that the election was conducted smoothly on Tuesday, despite the many legal challenges and election chaos that had already begun in the state.
Inflation, the economy, and immigration were all top issues for voters in Georgia, much like in states around the nation. Those were all issues that Trump hit hard during campaigning, promising to return to “America First” policies and end illegal immigration if elected.
Harris found more ground with voters on abortion, which was not a top issue for most Georgia voters.
Over the next few days, the state will move forward with completing the vote count and certifying the election. While mail-in ballots had to be received and reported by 8 p.m. on Election Day, the votes of military and overseas citizens have until Friday to arrive, but must be postmarked Nov. 5.
