Cherokee County hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter was on the ballot.
Tucked in between the conservative, rural north Georgia mountains and the more liberal Atlanta suburbs, Cherokee has a relatively large population that is relatively conservative, which makes it a gold mine for Republicans running statewide races. Last fall, Cherokee voters gave now-President Donald just under 70% of their ballots, more than 112,000 in total, helping him flip the state back for Republicans after it narrowly went to former president Joe Biden in 2020.
That’s why it was a little unusual to see top Georgia Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harold Jones and state Sen. Jason Esteves, who recently launched his 2026 gubernatorial campaign, speaking to large crowds at events in Cherokee on Thursday.
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