Colorado Politics

Widening aim, Clinton commits resources to Georgia, Arizona 

Hillary Clinton is expanding her presidential battleground map to include the traditionally Republican states of Georgia and Arizona, according to officials aware of the plans.

A source with knowledge of the campaign’s plans says aides at Clinton’s New York headquarters spoke Monday with Democratic Party officials in Georgia and Arizona to discuss a six-figure investment across the two states.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak publicly about campaign strategy.

The move comes amid a national shift in Clinton’s favor since the July party conventions. Polls suggest Clinton has widened her national lead over Republican Donald Trump and positioned herself to compete even in some traditionally GOP-leaning states.

Georgia and Arizona combined for 27 electoral votes, a tenth of the total needed to win the presidency.

President Barack Obama lost Arizona by 9 percentage points and 8.5 points in his two campaigns; he lost Georgia by 5 points and 8 points. But the states have growing non-white populations that favor Democrats, and Trumpcontinues to struggle among white college-educated Republicans – factors that give Clinton an opening Obama did not have.

“We’ve said for years that Georgia was moving toward battleground status, and Hillary Clinton is just the candidate to do it,” Georgia Democratic Chairman Dubose Porter said in a recent interview.

Both states also have Republican senators up for re-election this fall. John McCain, seeking his sixth term in Arizona, faces perhaps the toughest race of his career. Johnny Isakson remains favored to win a third term in Georgia.

Even before Monday’s call, Democrats in both states had launched a coordinated campaign effort intended to drive turnout up and down the ballot in November.

Trump, meanwhile, still has bare-bones staff across many battleground states.

 
Andrew Harnik

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