Donald Trump has won the 2024 Presidential Election in what some have called a landslide victory, winning all seven major swing states and the popular vote by over 3 million voters. Georgia has come into the limelight in recent years as a battleground state, leaving the 16 electoral votes in Georgia up for grabs and seats across local and federal positions in uncertain territory.
Georgia, which is usually a solid Republican state, flipped in 2020, helping Democratic President Joe Biden secure an Electoral College victory. During the 2024 election, the state returned to its usual red pattern, with Trump winning 50.7% of the state’s votes and Harris winning 48.5%, granting the former president Georgia’s electoral votes.
In Fulton County, Kamala Harris led the presidential race with 71.88% of the vote, compared to Donald Trump’s 27.04%. The county remains the largest Democratic stronghold in Georgia. The high voter turnout in the county, recorded at 71%, reflected the record-breaking turnout in the state.
On Election Day, though, multiple polling locations in crucial battleground states, including Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, received hoax bomb threats that disrupted voting and led to temporary evacuations.
The FBI reported that these threats, while non-credible, appeared to originate from Russian email domains, raising concerns about Russian interference aimed at destabilizing the election process.
Georgia, in particular, faced over two dozen threats, mostly in Fulton County, prompting temporary closures and requests for extended voting hours to ensure voter access was not compromised.
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, attributed the threats to Russian actors attempting to cause discord and election disruption. These hoaxes follow prior alleged Russian election interference, including falsified videos aimed at swaying public opinion and discrediting the election, underscoring ongoing tensions and challenges in safeguarding U.S. election integrity from foreign influence.
Though the presidential race attracted the bulk of voters’ attention, Georgia US House, Georgia State House, and Georgia State Senate races were on the ballot, as well.
In Fulton County, Democratic incumbents dominated most districts for U.S. House races. Nikema Williams retained her seat in District 5 with 88.38% of the vote, and Lucy McBath won in District 6 with 77.48%. However, in District 7, Republican Rich McCormick narrowly defeated Democrat Bob Christian with 52.01%.
In the State Senate races for Fulton County, Democratic candidates won in multiple districts. Notable victories include Josh McLaurin in District 14 and Nan Orrock in District 36, each securing 100% of the vote as unopposed candidates.In a competitive race, incumbent Republican Shawn Still beat out Democrat Ashwin Ramaswami in District 48 with 53.6%.
The U.S. House races reaffirmed Georgia’s urban-rural divide, with Democrats holding seats in urban districts like those around Atlanta and Republicans dominating in rural and suburban areas. Notable incumbents like Democrat Sanford Bishop in District 2 and Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene in District 14 retained their seats by comfortable margins. Overall, 5 out of the 14
House seats went to Democrats and the rest to Republicans, helping secure the Republicans’ narrow House majority that many thought could fall to Democrats.
Meanwhile, the state house and senate stayed mostly Republican, with the Georgia State Senate having 23 Democrats and 33 Republicans and the State House having 78 Democrats and 99 Republicans, with 3 uncalled seats.