At Atlanta’s Chastain Park, investment bank logos abut ads for pizza joints and dentists on the outfield fences of the baseball diamonds. Sprinkled among Dodges …
At Atlanta’s Chastain Park, investment bank logos abut ads for pizza joints and dentists on the outfield fences of the baseball diamonds. Sprinkled among Dodges and Toyotas are Audis and Alfa Romeos. Some of Georgia’s most affluent voters, formerly reliable cornerstones of the state’s once-ascendant Republican majority, live in million-dollar houses here. They might be swayed by Joe Biden‘s calls to give him a chance to govern by electing Democrats in Georgia’s twin Jan.5 runoffs to decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. Or they might be Republicans who voted against President Donald Trump in November but will come home to the GOP, seeking divided government and low taxes. George Peterson and his wife said they would call themselves Republicans, but voted for Biden in November because of Trump’s “lack of leadership and lack of moral character.” But Saturday they cast early ballots for Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler over Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. “We would like to see a balance of power between the three branches and we are not completely comfortable with the agenda of the left wing,” Peterson said. “We’re that mythical middle you’re looking for,” adding that he couldn’t picture himself becoming a Democrat unless the party makes “dramatic” changes on the issues. The choices of voters like the Petersons could determine the outcome of the elections. Biden eked out a narrow win of fewer than 12,000 votes in November out of nearly 5 million statewide, but it took all the elements of a surging coalition to get him there, including Republicans who defected from Trump.
