Biden Flips Coveted Georgia, The Last State To Be Called By The AP
President-elect Joe Biden has won Georgia, according to a race call from The Associated Press, making it the final state to be decided in the presidential election.
The AP's call came more than two weeks after Election Day, but shortly after the state released results of a hand-conducted audit.
After the audit, Biden won the state by a mere 12,300 votes out of nearly 5 million cast. President Trump's campaign can still request a recount.
With Georgia's 16 electoral votes going to Biden, the final electoral tally is 306 votes for Biden and 232 for Trump. That's the same margin Trump would have won by in 2016 if there weren't two faithless electors who brought his total down to 304.
Trump appeared ahead in Georgia on election night, dominating with in-person Election Day results. But Biden closed the gap and then surpassed Trump as mail-in votes, especially in Atlanta and its suburbs, were counted in large numbers.
Georgia was a reliably Republican state for decades but Democrats had been seeking to turn it blue for the last several years. Georgia hadn't voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Bill Clinton in 1992.
It brings the number of states Biden flipped from Trump's 2016 column to five, including Arizona, which last voted Democratic in a presidential race when it backed Clinton in 1996.
Biden also flipped Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, three key northern industrial states that ultimately delivered the White House to Trump four years ago. Biden also won a single electoral vote in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, which last voted Democratic for former President Barack Obama in 2008.
Electors from each state and the District of Columbia are expected to vote on Dec. 14. The new Congress will then count the votes and certify Biden's victory on Jan. 6, two weeks before the inauguration.
But Georgia's political activity is far from over. The state will hold two runoff elections on Jan. 5 for both its U.S. Senate seats, which are currently held by Republicans.
Sen. David Perdue faces a challenge from Democrat Jon Ossoff, and Sen. Kelly Loeffler will go up against Democrat the Rev. Raphael Warnock.
Democrats must win both seats to obtain a 50-50 split in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris able to cast a tiebreaking vote.
Prominent leaders within the party are now shifting their attention to these runoffs, and among them is former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has been credited with helping to increase Democratic turnout and participation. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
