Democratic early vote turnout concerns GOP in Georgia runoff

#Republicans always anticipated that much like in the general election, the bulk of their voters would vote in the traditional fashion — in person and on #Election #Day. The party did make a concerted effort to encourage their supporters to vote early or by mail-in — but they fully understood that #President #Donald #Trump’s consistent attacks on mail in voting would make that a difficult sell. #According to two different GOP operatives familiar with the #Republican analysis of data being collected, #Republicans need an impressive turnout on #Tuesday, #January 5 in order to overcome the #Democratic turnout in the two weeks of early voting leading up to #Election #Day.

“#We are pleased with the level of energy and excitement, especially given how often pundits were discounting the likelihood of #Democrats performing in a runoff,” said former #Democratic gubernatorial candidate #Stacey #Abrams, who has played an active role in the #Democratic campaigns.

“#According to the current analysis we are running even or ahead of where we were in 2020 #November election, but we know that this is just the beginning we still have to get to #Election #Day and I don’t count anything until it’s done,” #Abrams said. “#But we are incredibly enthusiastic not only about #African #American turnout, but we have seen increases among #Latino and API voters.”

#While #Republicans understand that they will have some ground to make up on the final day of voting, they still believe it’s an achievable goal — the #Republican #National #Committee has invested millions of dollars into a ground game, mimicking the one used during the general election. They are also hopeful #Trump’s last-minute visit to the state #Monday will help encourage his diehard supporters to take the time to vote on #January 5.

“(#Election #Day) is hugely important,” said another #Republican operative. “#Democrats have banked a lot more of their high propensity voters early. #We need our base to turn out on #Election #Day in a big way. The #President’s visit on #Monday will hopefully go a long way to getting our base out.”