With Georgia cemented as battleground state, Chatham County in spotlight with VP Harris rally

President Joe Biden won Georgia's 2020 presidential election by about 11,800 votes, mainly from increased turnout in the solid-blue Atlanta metro area.

But Democrats also upped their margins along Georgia's coast, with Chatham County casting 16,000 votes for the top Democrat in 2020 compared to 2016. Chatham is Georgia's most populous county outside Atlanta's metro, and it's also blue.

Chatham County's growing prominence in this year's presidential race is now in the spotlight as Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and running-mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz visit the region. The pair are set for a bus tour Wednesday, which will culminate in a Harris rally Thursday in Savannah.

"The fact of the matter is they recognize this city is important, and Coastal Georgia matters," said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who served as a Georgia delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Georgia "a major player," and Savannah is on the map

More than 35,000 Georgians have volunteered for the Harris campaign since she launched her bid after Biden dropped out of the race on July 21. Outside the Atlanta metro, there are 50 full-time staffers across seven offices in South Georgia, according to campaign stats.

Harris has also shrunk the polling deficit Biden faced in Georgia, according to New York Times polling averages. Those averages showed Republican nominee Donald Trump with a 7-percentage-point lead, but Harris has shrunk that margin to 3 points, a gap that is within the margin of error for most polls.

"The new team being in for Democrats is making quite a difference in this state," said University of Georgia professor Charles Bullock III , an expert in Southern politics, in an interview earlier this month.

More: DNC launches billboard blitz across Georgia for the Harris-Walz ticket; Half are in Savannah

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Harris's visit is a follow-up to a commitment made in early August after Tropical Storm Debby postponed a scheduled visit to Savannah . This week's trip marks the second time Harris has been in Savannah this year after visiting for an abortion-rights rally in February . Johnson said two visits from a Vice President in a six-month span is unprecedented in the city's 291-year history.

Bullock, the UGA professor, said that Georgia was largely untouched by presidential nominees for years dating back to the early 1990s. It wasn't until 2020, when Georgia firmly resurfaced as a battleground, that the state saw visits beyond just campaign surrogates.

"If anyone wonders 'what is Georgia's perceived role in presidential elections?' Yeah, we are a major player," Bullock said.

Beyond Atlanta

Democratic presidential campaigning in Georgia has historically focused on the Atlanta metro area. In Savannah, Harris's visit will mark the first campaign event from a major nominee since Ronald Reagan delivered a speech at the Savannah Civic Center in 1980 . Jimmy Carter, who visited frequently while running for state senator and governor, made his most famous visit, when he stood on the bar at Pinkie Master's, a year after he was sworn in as the 39th President of the United States.

Johnson knew early on in the Biden Administration that Savannah was on the radar of top Democratic officials, evidenced by a historic eight or nine visits from cabinet-level secretaries in the Biden Administration, he said. The Savannah mayor said at a campaign event before Biden dropped out that the city has received more investment from the current administration than any other in history.

Savannah's top elected official credits the city's recognition with three major factors: relationships, results and strategy. Savannah has received investments from Biden policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law , making Savannah a showcase of "results."

"Savannah has become a case study about how to effectively partner directly with the federal government to make things happen in the interest of our citizens," Johnson said.

When it comes to elections, there are about 30 counties Democrats have a real chance at winning in Georgia, Bullock said.

Many of those counties encompass Atlanta and its suburbs . Outside the state capital, counties such as Chatham; Richmond, home to Augusta; and Bibb, home to Macon. But out of those blue counties away from Atlanta, Chatham has the most potential votes.

Chatham's population is around 290,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About 133,000 voted in 2020's presidential race, a record turnout year.

Johnson said he has encouraged the campaign to not only visit Savannah but explore other areas of Coastal Georgia. Nearby Liberty County votes with strong democratic margins; Biden won the county by about 24%.

The campaign's bus tour Wednesday is expected to visit numerous locations around the region, although an official itinerary has not been released. Johnson hopes the stops will showcase Coastal Georgia and some of its unique challenges that leaders "might not see in Atlanta."

Signs of Harris's visit were already surfacing during early in the week: Johnson mentioned the visit during his weekly press conference, more Harris-Walz signs popped up around town, and the campaign held a small press conference centered on housing issues with local Democrats Tuesday.

Included at that event, which focused on housing policy, were State Sen. Derrick Mallow (D-Savannah) and Chatham County Commissioner Aaron Whitely. The campaign's presence in Chatham County this week sends a clear message, Mallow said.

"This visit is important to tell us that we matter in Savannah," Mallow said. "Everything along I-16, all the way down across I-95 in South Georgia, southeast, southwest Georgia matters to the Vice President and matters to this campaign."

Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: With Georgia cemented as battleground state, Chatham County in spotlight with VP Harris rally