Atlanta – Josh McCoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that Republicans can win back the Peach State after it emerged as a key battleground in the last presidential election.
In an interview with FOX News Digital, McCune pointed out that the path to victory lies in two key blocks. These include early voters and those who lean Republican but are largely uninterested in the voting process as a whole.
“We are happy with the situation here in Georgia,” the former state senator said. “There's a lot of work to do over the next month or so, but I feel like we're in a position to win.”
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Republican Party Chairman Josh McCoon (right) spoke to Fox News Digital about the Trump campaign's efforts in Georgia. (Getty Images)
He pointed to recent polls and early numbers on absentee voting that show former President Trump has a slight advantage over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Early and absentee voters were key to President Biden's victory across the country in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced most Americans to stay home.
Early voting and absentee voting in Georgia, parts of which were devastated by Hurricane Helen just over a week ago, could be in a similar crisis this year. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in the Peach State by about 12,000 votes.
“One of the very important lessons is the importance of early voting. We have three weeks of in-person early voting here in Georgia. Republicans traditionally target voters with early voting. I haven't really done much planning and planning and going to the polls,' let's go ahead and save that vote,'' Makoun said.
“As a result, significant time and resources had to be spent to transport the majority of voters to polling places on Election Day.”
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President Biden won Georgia in 2020 by less than 1 percentage point. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
McKoon said encouraging more likely voters to go to the polls early frees up resources for state parties and that “if you get them to the polls, they're more likely to vote for President Trump.” “We can focus on low-propensity voters.”
“But of course, we need to be exposed to these voters over and over again. So early voting is a big part of our overall strategy,” McCune said.
Asked how they could reach lower-propensity voters, Republican officials said it was more a matter of outreach than identification.
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“Of course, all of that requires resources. It takes money: putting mail in mailboxes, advertising on TV, calling people at home, knocking on doors. We’re trying to do all of those things,” Makoun said.
Another factor in the Trump campaign's efforts nationally, particularly in Georgia, is to persuade black male voters to vote Republican.
Trump's supporters say securing the support of about 20% of black men nationwide could be critical to swinging the election in his favor.
McCoon said early voting will be key to winning in Georgia. (Kurt “Cyber Guy” Knutson)
recent howard university Roughly one in five black men under the age of 50 in battleground states support Trump, according to polls.
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“You're looking at the work that Black Voices for Trump, a lot of other movements, grassroots movements are doing in the state. Again, direct contact with voters is really important in this area. “It's important. But no one is better at it than President Trump himself,” McCoun said.
“It's really about economic insecurity and the sense that this administration with its open borders policy is making it even more difficult for Black voters to advance in this country.”
Georgia's early voting period runs from October 15th to November 1st.
