Pivot Counties in Georgia
| 2020 Election Analysis: Pivot Counties |
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Retained • Boomerang Margins of victory Voter turnout Demographics |
Pivot Counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties.
Following the 2016 presidential election, Georgia had five Pivot Counties.
Ballotpedia defines Pivot Counties Trump won in 2020 as Retained Pivot Counties and those Joe Biden (D) won as Boomerang Pivot Counties.
After the 2020 presidential election, all five were Retained Pivot Counties.
List of Pivot Counties
The table below lists the Pivot Counties in Georgia. These counties accounted for 3.14 percent of the total counties in Georgia, and 0.57 percent of the state population.
| Analysis of Georgia counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008 following the 2020 presidential election[1] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | State | Winner, 2020 | Margin of Victory, 2020 | Trump Margin of Victory, 2016 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2012 | Obama Margin of Victory, 2008 | |
| Baker County | Georgia | Retained | +15.76 | +8.68 | +0.57 | +1.07 | |
| Dooly County | Georgia | Retained | +6.04 | +2.05 | +6.98 | +3.53 | |
| Peach County | Georgia | Retained | +4.65 | +2.91 | +7.48 | +6.75 | |
| Quitman County | Georgia | Retained | +9.67 | +10.92 | +9.04 | +7.9 | |
| Twiggs County | Georgia | Retained | +7.34 | +1.58 | +8.64 | +6.97 | |
The map below shows Retained Pivot Counties in Georgia shaded bright red.
2020 analysis
Voter turnout
Georgia has five Retained Pivot Counties, 3.1% of the state's 159 total counties. Turnout in these counties accounted for 0.48% of the statewide total turnout.
| Voter turnout in Georgia and its Pivot Counties | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Overview | ||||||
| Georgia | 4,997,716 | 7,254,710 | 68.89% | - | ||
| Retained Pivot Counties | 23,763 | 42,290 | 56.19% | 0.48% | ||
| County-specific | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | Voting age population | Turnout | Contribution to statewide turnout | |||
| Baker | 1,555 | 2,475 | 62.83% | 0.03% | ||
| Dooly | 4,105 | 11,020 | 37.25% | 0.08% | ||
| Peach | 12,553 | 20,400 | 61.53% | 0.25% | ||
| Quitman | 1,106 | 1,775 | 62.31% | 0.02% | ||
| Twiggs | 4,444 | 6,620 | 67.13% | 0.09% | ||
Demographics
This table displays demographic data, on average, by county compared to nationwide and statewide averages with a focus on Pivot Counties. Use the arrows at the top of the table to view 2016 data and changes from 2016 to 2020. Full demographic data can be found here.
2016 analysis
Voting trends
The table below details the voting trends of the Pivot Counties in Georgia since 1960.
| Presidential Elections in Georgia Pivot Counties since 1960 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Elections won by Republican Presidential candidate | Elections won by Democratic Presidential candidate | Elections matching national result | |||
| Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | Elections | Percentage of elections | |
| Baker County, Georgia | 3 | 20.00% | 11 | 73.33% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Dooly County, Georgia | 3 | 20.00% | 11 | 73.33% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Peach County, Georgia | 4 | 26.67% | 10 | 66.67% | 9 | 60.00% |
| Quitman County, Georgia | 3 | 20.00% | 11 | 73.33% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Twiggs County, Georgia | 4 | 26.67% | 10 | 66.67% | 7 | 46.67% |
| Average | 3 | 22.67% | 11 | 70.67% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Median | 3 | 20.00% | 11 | 73.33% | 8 | 53.33% |
2016 election results
- See also: Presidential election in Georgia, 2016
In 2016, Georgia had 16 electoral votes, which was 3 percent of the 538 electoral votes up for grabs and 6 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the general election. Presidential primary elections in Georgia took place on March 1, 2016. Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary with 71.3 percent of the vote. Donald Trump won the Republican primary with 38.8 percent.
General election
| U.S. presidential election, Georgia, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 45.6% | 1,877,963 | 0 | |
| Republican |  Donald Trump/Mike Pence |
50.8% | 2,089,104 | 16 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 3% | 125,306 | 0 | |
| - | Other/Write-in | 0.5% | 22,359 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 4,114,732 | 16 | |||
| Election results via: Federal Election Commission | |||||
Primaries
| Georgia Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Hillary Clinton |
71.3% | 545,674 | 73 | |
| Bernie Sanders | 28.2% | 215,797 | 29 | |
| Martin O'Malley | 0.3% | 2,129 | 0 | |
| Michael Steinberg | 0.2% | 1,766 | ||
| Totals | 765,366 | 102 | ||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
| Georgia Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
|
Donald Trump |
38.8% | 502,994 | 42 | |
| Marco Rubio | 24.4% | 316,836 | 16 | |
| Ted Cruz | 23.6% | 305,847 | 18 | |
| John Kasich | 5.6% | 72,508 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 6.2% | 80,723 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.6% | 7,686 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 1,486 | 0 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 1,146 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0% | 428 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 2,625 | 0 | |
| George Pataki | 0% | 236 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.2% | 2,910 | 0 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0% | 539 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,295,964 | 76 | ||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
See also
- List of Pivot Counties - the 206 counties that voted Obama-Obama-Trump
- Pivot Counties by state
- Presidential election, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ This analysis does not include counties in Alaska and certain independent cities due to variations in vote total reporting.
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