Harris handily carries Clayton County, falls shy of Biden’s 2020 haul
Vice President Kamala Harris carried Clayton County with 83% of the vote – just shy of the 84% President Joe Biden received in the metro Atlanta county in 2020.
Former President Donald Trump received 15% of the vote.
“We had a very smooth night,” said Shauna Dozier, director of the Clayton County’s elections and registrations.
Dozier said about 200 provisional votes still need to be counted.
Just over four years ago, attention nationwide was fixed on Clayton as officials tabulated the results of the 2020 presidential election. About 12,000 votes separated then-President Donald Trump from clinching the lead in Georgia against challenger Joe Biden.
As election workers recounted votes and announced victory for Biden, local leaders and voting rights advocates credited Clayton voters, a population of about 300,000 mostly Black residents, for delivering the decisive votes to flip Georgia blue.
In nearly every election cycle, Clayton has been a Democratic stronghold, voting by nearly 85% for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and about that same rate for Barack Obama in 2012.
What made Clayton stand out in 2020 was the amount of voters who flooded the polls. More than 95,000 people showed up to cast a ballot, an increase in turnout of more than 19,000 people from the 2016 election. The vast majority of those votes went toward Biden.
About the Author
Dylan Jackson joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's investigations team in 2022 and writes about abuses of power.
