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Republicans are turning out in record numbers during the second week of early voting for Georgia’s primary election.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, 254,556 people have voted early in the Peach State as of Tuesday. 234,893 of those voted in person, while 19,663 voted using absentee ballots. Through the same day in 2020, the early in-person turnout was a much smaller 90,393, and in 2018, it was 69,263.
The secretary of state’s official press release also pointed out that this is “a 239% increase from the same point in the early voting period in the 2018 primary election and a 160% increase in the same point in the early voting period in the 2020 primary election.”
Broken down by party, Republican voters have shown up with 146,425 votes, while Democrats came in with 106,188 votes as of May 10, 2022.
Red voters in Georgia have been rallying against political ineptitude since the 2021 Senate runoff elections. President Donald Trump himself visited Georgia in March to hold a Save America rally in Commerce to boost support for Republican gubernatorial candidate David Perdue, running against Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp.
Trump called Kemp a “turncoat” during the Commerce rally, adding that he was a “coward” and a “complete and total disaster” regarding his refusal to adequately address staggering reports of election fraud from the 2020 presidential election.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger commented on reports of early voter turnout in remarks shared in an official press release:
“The record early voting turnout is a testament to the security of the voting system and the hard work of our county election officials. As Secretary of State, I promised to strike a strong balance between access and security in our elections, and these numbers demonstrate that I kept that promise and that voters have confidence in Georgia’s elections.”
These early turnout numbers may indicate that Republican voters, particularly those among President Trump’s base, will show up strong at the polls to vote against Gov. Brian Kemp.
Trump’s endorsement of candidates has been the gold standard of success in the 2022 midterms, with an endorsement success rate of 58-1 after primary victories in Nebraska and West Virginia this week.
Georgia’s primary election will take place on May 24, 2022.
