Is Georgia a Battleground State? The Clinton Campaign Appears to Think So

The Hillary Clinton campaign is planning to send funds to Georgia and Arizona as she broadens her presidential campaign to include additional potential swing states. According to a story in the Washington Post, members of her campaign has notified Democratic leaders in the two states that funds for field organizing will be coming soon, although the amount of money to be spent in the Peach State wasn’t announced.

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams told the Post that the Clinton campaign’s decision to invest in Georgia reflects the work done by Democrats and her New Georgia Project over the last few years. The New Georgia Project claims to have registered around 70,000 new minority voters this cycle.

Abrams declined to share specifics of the Clinton team’s plans, saying that the campaign has been on the ground for weeks already. “Over the next few weeks there will be conversations about where and how that increased investment will be deployed. More than anything, it signals the recognition of the changing tide in the south and in Georgia,” she said.

“To the extent investment comes to Georgia, and particularly the work we’re able to do down-ballot, you not only elect Hillary Clinton, you activate voters in those pockets of minority voters where you can take [state] House races,” Abrams said. “And the more House races you win, the more effective we are in pushing back against Republican policy.

According to the Post article, the additional funds will likely be spent in Democratic stronghold DeKalb County, along with majority-minority Gwinnett County, where a federal lawsuit was filed on Monday claiming discrimination against minority voters.

Recent polling has shown Clinton with a small lead in Georgia. The Real Clear Politics polling average has her up by 1.8 percentage points. Yet, the Polls Plus forecast by FiveThirtyEignt gives Donald Trump a two thirds chance of winning the state.