Why did Georgians vote the way they did? AU expert weighs in
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Georgia is among several battleground states the entire nation watched throughout this election season along with Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
A question many have is what changed in the last four years. How did a state go from red to blue or vice versa?
We spoke to William Hatcher, a professor of public istration at Augusta University who says many people voted with their wallets. He says this means they are worried about the “bread and butter issues”.
He says historically, if people are upset with the economy, people tend to push other issues aside and punish the party in charge by voting against them.
Donald Trump elected the 47th president of the United States
Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.
‘Trump came back out of a lot of things that traditionally political science experts would say would be the end of a candidate competing,” said Hatcher. “The issues with the January 6 insurrection, a lot of issues around legal troubles that in the past, would have been hard for a candidate to come back to.”
Hatcher says it shows a lot about the effects of economics on an election.
“It shows you some of the fundamentals in our political system and how the way people vote still holds up,” he said. “How people put a lot of those things aside because they’re voting based on economics.”
Republicans took back control of the Senate, and we are still waiting to see who will win the House.
Hatcher says if Republicans control both houses of Congress, the makeup will be similar to the last time Trump was president and Republicans controlled Congress in 2017.
Here’s a look at Trump’s sweeping plans for 2nd istration
Donald Trump has outlined a wide-ranging agenda that blends traditional conservative approaches to taxes, regulation and cultural issues with a more populist bent on trade.
He says even with one party in control, that there are still a lot of points where policies and laws can be stopped.
“When you talk about of new legislation and changes to that, history tells us, and specifically, last time Trump and the Republicans controlled both branches, that not a lot happened,” said Hatcher. “But, this is a different time, and the president does have a lot of power to use executive authority in areas of tariffs, one of them, immigration. So, you know, we’ll have to see what that change is going to be.”
Hatcher says we’ll have to wait until after inauguration day to really see what changes will come with a second Trump istration.
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