GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday won Georgia in the presidential race, thwarting Hillary Clinton’s attempts to put the state in the Democratic column for the first time in more than two decades.
Networks called the race for Mr. Trump in Georgia hours are the polls closed at 7 p.m.
The state, which is worth 16 electoral votes, was viewed as a must-win for Mr. Trump chances of collecting the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House entering the night.
Democrats have long held that Georgia’s changing demographics have been moving the state in their direction, hoping to capitalize on its large pool of African American and college-educated white voters.
But that turned out to be wishful thinking in the election Tuesday.
Exit polls out of Georgia showed Mr. Trump easily outperformed Mrs. Clinton among voters seeking a change agent, while Mrs. Clinton was far and away the top pick among voters seeking experience.
There was a significant gender gap — 54 percent of women backing Mrs. Clinton and 57 percent of men supporting Mr. Trump — and a divide along racial lines — seven in 10 white voters backed Mr. Trump and nine in 10 blacks voters backed Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump won more than half of voters with a high school education or less and voters 45 and older. Mrs. Clinton carried half of college graduates and a majority of voters between the agenda of 18 and 44.
Mr. Trump carried 48 percent of Independent voters.
In 2012, Mitt Romney defeated President Obama in Georgia by nearly 8 percentage points.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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