Many eyes will be on Georgia and Texas come election night. While these states were predicted to be solidly red this year, there has been a recent shift that puts them both very much into play. Now, newly added campaign stops by Joe Biden and his team show the Democrat thinks he has a good chance of turning these states blue.
In Georgia, electoral votes have gone to Republican presidential candidates all but once over the last 36 years (Bill Clinton won in 1992). As CBS reports (watch above) Republicans once saw this state “as an automatic win.” Trump won the state by more than 5 points in 2016, but this year polls show a potentially different outcome. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes:
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll of likely voters released Monday showed Biden at 47% and Trump at 46%, within the survey’s margin of error of 4 percentage points. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen registered about 3% in the poll, while an additional 4% were undecided.
ABC News reports, “The former vice president is set to visit Georgia on Tuesday, where he will give his “closing argument” for the 2020 race in Warm Springs. His running mate Sen. Kamala Harris traveled to the state on Friday.”
Thrilled that @joebiden and @DrBiden are returning to Georgia just days after @kamalaharris and @DouglasEmhoff campaigned here. GA is a battleground state, and our 16 electoral votes are up for grabs. Make a plan to vote at https://t.co/lClnYYPro6, and let's get it done. #gapol
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) October 25, 2020
In Texas, Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to win in 1976. Trump won the state by 9 points in 2016, but according to recent polls, Biden has a decent chance of pulling off a win there this time around. According to The Dallas Morning News:
Former Vice President Joe Biden has regained a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Texas, after wooing more independents and Hispanics, according to a poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and University of Texas at Tyler.
Biden’s lead among likely voters is 48%-45%, within the poll’s margin of error.
But it looks like Trump is dismissing the polls and won’t be focusing any energy on Texas because they still believe they have it in the bag:
The Trump campaign said Sunday that the president will not make a campaign stop in Texas before Election Day because the campaign does not view the Lone Star state as competitive.
“Texas is not a battleground state,” former Secretary of Energy and Texas governor and staunch Trump ally Rick Perry said on a call with supporters Sunday.
On the flip side, the Biden campaign is putting some of its resources to work in the Lone Star state. Newsweek writes:
California Senator Kamala Harris, who is the Democrat Party’s vice presidential candidate, will visit Texas this Friday to campaign for her presidential running mate, Joe Biden. The visit by Harris just four days before the 2020 presidential election will be extremely rare.
No Democrat VP candidate has campaigned in Texas since 1988.
Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff and Jill Biden have also campaigned in Texas recently.
Texas ‼️ – 7.2 million Texas have voted, 81% of all who voted in 2016.
A poll by UT Tyler shows Biden up 48-45.
Texas could be the Florida of 2020. If Biden wins, 538 gives him a 99% chance of winning the election. GO TEXAS!
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) October 25, 2020