Votes for Trump up in all Habersham County precincts
It’s been one week since Former President Donald Trump claimed his seat back in the White House, and Habersham County voters turned out for the president-elect in record numbers.
In Habersham, 82 percent of voters cast their ballots for Trump, more than the 81.3 percent who voted for him in 2020 and the 80.76 percent who voted for him in 2016. All six Habersham County precincts swung for Trump with Mud Creek taking the top spot at 84.8 percent.
The Demorest precinct had the highest percentage of votes for Vice President Kamala Harris at 25 percent.
Local Republicans outperformed Trump countywide with Georgia District 10 Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) and State Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) garnering more than 84 percent of the vote. U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican serving Georgia’s ninth district, achieved 83 percent of local voters.
Statewide, Habersham County ranked No. 18 for the highest percentage of votes cast for Trump. The neighboring counties of Banks, White and Franklin came ahead of Habersham at 88.96 percent, 86.15 percent and 84 percent, respectively.
Dr. Tony Frye, professor of political science and associate dean at Piedmont University said while Georgia voted Republican this election, it still remains a state that could swing in either direction.
“This state was a much more deeply red state in the last 20 years. In the last four years, it has become much less so. We’re kind of entering into that territory where they call it the purple state. Where it’s a state where either political party can reasonably win an election,” Frye said. “I don’t know if I would say that we’ve gone back to being a red state just yet, but in the next couple election cycles, we’ll have a pretty good indicator of that,” noting that the 2026 gubernatorial race will be one to keep an eye on.
Frye said nationwide, the economy was a top issue for millions of U.S. voters and likely led to Trump’s win which pulled in the needed independent voters and swayed all seven swing states in his favor.
“At the end of the day, most people vote based on their pocketbook. And we can tell ourselves that the economy is doing well, but for the average person out there that is going to the grocery store or trying to get a loan or buy a home, they feel otherwise,” he said, noting how most voters associated Harris with higher prices. “I think that was overwhelmingly the number one issue that probably decided the election. Had the economy, especially inflation, been doing a lot better, there likely would have been a different result.”