Key swing state counties to watch during the Trump-Harris 2024 election race
As polls close across the country on Tuesday, these counties could hold the keys for which candidates comes out on top in the battleground states.
Once the polls begin to close Election Day, all eyes will turn to the swing states across the country counting votes in the presidential race. And within those states, there are a handful of counties that could hold the keys to the outcome.
Here's a look at some of the key counties to watch across the seven presidential battleground states, ordered by the state's final poll closing time (in Eastern Standard Time).
Chattooga: One of NBC News' seven communities to watch as part of the 2022 "County to County" project, this northwestern county is rural and has a significant chunk of evangelical voters. Even though then-President Donald Trump lost the state in 2020, his support here grew.
Cherokee and Forsyth: The suburbs and exurbs around Marietta tell a different story, one of reliably Republican communities drifting away from the party in recent years. Mitt Romney won more than 80% in Forsyth in 2012, but Trump won just two-thirds of the vote there eight years later.
Gwinnett and Cobb: It's no doubt much of the discussion election night will center on the Atlanta suburbs. Democrats have run up the score here in recent elections and likely need to keep the double-digit margins up to win again.
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