The Real Story Behind Georgia’s Record-Breaking Runoff Turnout
Forget about conventional wisdom. The Georgia runoff is anything but typical.
When Georgia polls opened on December 14, every political rubbernecker in the country held their breath. Conventional wisdom enforced by sixty-four years of Georgia runoffs suggested a low turnout election. High propensity voters — the folks who vote rain or shine in every election — would choose Georgia’s senators. In Georgia, these voters are older whites and currently trend Republican.
Then Richmond County shattered expectations along with the single-day early voting record they set during the November 2020 election. At 57.7% black, Richmond County, better known as Augusta, Georgia, is a minority-majority city. In November 2020, Biden won it with 67.95% of the vote. A similar scene played out in Gwinnett County.
This time around, conventional wisdom is an idiot.
How high is voter turnout?
There’s a lot of noise about Georgia’s runoff turnout. Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Vox, Reuters, everybody and their brother has a piece about how we’ve cast over 1.4 million votes. While this is an astronomical number for any election and unheard of during a Georgia runoff, they all miss the real…
