A pivotal Georgia county is headed to the polls. What voters in a tight suburb that broke for Biden are saying about 2024

Voters in Georgia are smashing early voting records as the battleground state is crucial to both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on their path to victory with just 15 days to go before Election Day.

Cobb County encompassing swaths of the Atlanta suburbs was one of the closest counties in the swing state that swung for President Biden in 2020 and helped him win the state.

Once a reliably Republican county, it has become more ethnically and racially diverse with a larger affluent, college educated population that has been key for Democrats in the state. 

With just over two weeks to go before Election Day, a steady stream of voters have been showing up at multiple polling locations across the county to cast their ballots.

Voters who turned up early expressed relief at having gotten their vote counted and out of the way in what they believe might be one of, if not the most important election ever.

An early voting sign directing people where to go to cast a ballot at a polling location before Election Day in Georgia. A record number of people are participating in early voting in the battleground state

Kael Cotton, 19, from Smyrna was among the crowd of voters who showed up to vote in his first presidential general election. The young black college student studying business cast his ballot for Harris.

‘When it comes to the tax code, when it comes to black and brown people and police doing things, those are top of mind for me,’ he said.

Cotton said he believed the vice president would be the candidate looking out for the ‘little guy.’

Cotton is part of the coalition of voters Democrats see as crucial to clinch the state which includes strong voter turnout in the cities and the surrounding suburbs with support from young people, people of color and college educated voters in the state.

Across Georgia, voters broke the record with the most ballots cast on a Saturday for a general election. More than 163,000 people cast ballots that day. On Tuesday, October 15, the state broke the record for first day of early voting with more than 313,000 people casting ballots.

Voters lining up in Marietta, GA to cast ballots in the 2024 election. Cobb County is one of the top locations seeing strong early voter turnout

Cobb County was among the top three counties to participate in early voting over the first week its been underway with more than 101,000 people cast ballots in the first six days. 

Most of the voters in Cobb County who DailyMail.com spoke with were Harris supporter with various reason for voting.

In the past, Democrats have been more likely to participate in early voting than Republicans as Trump disparaged the process in 2020. 

But Republican party officials are trying to get supporters to vote in any way they can in 2024, or ‘swamp the vote’ rather than wait until the last minute.

Turnout in the county and state as a whole are key for both candidates seeking victories. 

Cobb County has been trending blue. Biden won the suburban county with more than 56 percent of the vote in 2020 and 14 points over Trump. It was one of the closer counties the president was able to pick up. Clinton won it in 2016 by just two points after it was reliably red in the past.

Nicole Shields, 36, and her husband both showed up to vote for Harris. They’ve been voting blue since 2020.

‘With Roe v Wade being overturned, health care and those kinds of choices for women were at the top of her list,’ Shields said about issues for her in 2024. Both she and her husband work in health care.

‘Having someone in the White House who supports a woman’s free choice is very important to us,’ she explained.

The sticker given to voters in Georgia after they cast their ballots in the 2024 election

The issue was top of mind for multiple people who showed up to vote early in Georgia. Most said they were voting for Harris.

‘Abortion rights, voter rights, taxes as well as the wars that are happening outside the U.S. are important, and just overall integrity,’ listed Margo Davis after she cast her ballot for the vice president.

‘I think people are very focused on this election and it’s emotional,’ she shared.

Frank Bailey, 58, said he has been impressed by how the vice president has talked about helping the middle class.

‘She got into the race late, so I didn’t know a lot about her, but what I’ve learned so far,’ I’m impressed. ‘The way I feel about it, Trump cannot be the next president.’

A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll shows Harris is surging ahead 2-to-1 nationally among early voters.  

While it appeared more Harris voters were showing up in Cobb County on that particular day for early voting, in a close county, there were some Trump supporters too.

George Brenick came out to vote early because he would be out of town on Election Day and wanted to vote for Trump.

‘I just believe he’s the better candidate, the only candidate really,’ he said. ‘We have a lot of work to do.’

The Cobb County Elections office saw a steady stream of voters looking to participate in early voting for the 2024 election in the pivotal suburban Georgia county

Natalie Dodgen from Vinings also showed up early to vote for Trump because she is not sure she would be able to on Election Day. The 29-year-old is nine months pregnant and expecting a baby boy any day.

‘I want a strong country for my son to live in,’ she said. ‘I voted for Trump, and I voted for him because I feel like he’s going to make our economy a lot stronger, and just seems like the wiser choice this year.’

While some voters in Cobb County were happy to share who they voted for in the presidential election, some people were not so comfortable sharing their choice amid the division.

‘I think there’s a lot of passion involved with your support for either candidate, and it’s almost ironic, when you drive through my neighborhood, you’ll see one supporter on the left-hand side of the street and then you’ll see the other candidate being supporter with a yard sign on the right-hand side of the street,’ said Patrick Brooks of Marietta.

He said he hopes some of the civility will come back after this upcoming election.

‘I remember the days where it wasn’t so much mudslinging. Your candidate would come out and promote what they were in favor of,’ he said.

Brett Cobb also declined to share who he voted for, but he said the issue on his mind when he cast his ballot was abortion.

‘I just feel like the Supreme Court overstepped and it would be good to have someone representing all people,’ he said.

Early in-person voting in the state has surpassed 1.3 million in the first five days. But with 15 days left to go, it’s hard to see how the race in the state will shake up even in a pivot county.

Neil Garrard, a  white man from Marietta who voted for Harris, said he thinks the state is starting to ‘wake up’ but summed up why it could go either way.

‘When you’re in the cities it feels blue,’ he said. ‘Then when you go to the rural areas, you see all the other red state signs.’