ATLANTA — Georgia’s fastest growing and most ethnically diverse county could decide the outcome of the election.
In Gwinnett County, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, 58% of voters supported Joe Biden in 2020, compared to 40% who voted for Donald Trump, with both parties once again focusing on the economy. are involved in a fierce competition. Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic pitch puts a lot of emphasis on small business owners, and people in Gwinnett County, one of the “decision-making” counties tracked by NBC News, want more help. It is acknowledged that it can be used.
So far, many people like Harris’ proposal, but some are still undecided just a week before Election Day. Sixteen electoral votes are up for grabs in Georgia, with recent polls showing both sides in a virtual dead heat, with important local issues also determining the race. Their choices can be crucial.
Roberto Correa at Beto’s Tacos.Chris Knowle/Beto’s Tacos
Roberto Correa, owner of Beto’s Tacos in Suwanee, said Harris’ proposal to allow up to $50,000 in tax credits for startup costs “would be great for a lot of people like me.”
Correa, who was born in Mexico, opened his first Betos in 2019 and expanded during the pandemic. He currently operates four stores in the Atlanta area. Sales are down about 20% this year as higher costs for agricultural products such as avocados reduce profit margins, he said, making it harder to get credit.
“I need help so I can have more money and buy more.” [gain] More power to compete with bigger franchises,” Correa said. But so far, he has not decided which presidential candidate he will support.
Both sides have hit hard in Georgia, but Harris has been pushing hard in and around the Democratic-heavy state capital (the metropolitan area spans 29 counties) to blunt the rural appeal of her Republican opponents. I need to improve my grades. In the Atlanta metropolitan area, he has an approval rating of 75% compared to Trump’s 22%, but a recent poll of likely voters by Marist found that the two had an even approval rating in the state at 49%. The margin of error was about 4%.
Fred Hicks, a Georgia-based political strategist who worked on Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s close campaign, said, “If you have a strong, robust economic development plan that supports small businesses, you’ll get more than the average vote.” “We have a real chance of winning votes.” Victory in 2021. That could provide “the kind of cushion she wants on Election Day,” he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris rallied supporters in Atlanta on July 30th. Elijah Nouvage/AFP via Getty Images file
Gwinnett County could provide a test of both sides’ appeals to voters of color and immigrants, especially on issues important to business owners.
The county is highly diverse, with no single ethnic group accounting for more than one-third of its residents, according to 2020 Census data. It is also a cauldron of commercial activity. Four Atlanta-area counties rank in the nation’s top 10 for new business growth from 2019 to 2023, with Gwinnett ranking seventh, according to an analysis of federal data by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. It was discovered in March that he had been involved.
“When you have a significantly higher percentage of the immigrant population, you have more business creation activity,” said Jerry Parrish, chief economist at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, a regional business group. “People find a place to live and find people like them. They’ve managed to create a lot of jobs and a lot of opportunities.”
There are a lot of people working here from all over the world.
Roberto Coria, owner of Beto’s Tacos
President Trump is trying to convince his supporters that many immigrants are a drag on the economy and that millions of unauthorized immigrants should be detained in camps and deported. At a rally in the Gwinnett suburb of Duluth last week, he accused Harris and Biden of killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus. A 26-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who entered the United States illegally has been charged with multiple crimes.
“She resettled these people in communities across America, and they are the roughest people,” Trump told Harris’ crowd.
Correa said he is trying to ignore President Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants, which ranges from lies that Haitians eat pets to describing immigrants as “animals” who have “invaded” or “infected” communities. It extended to language used by white supremacists, such as statements about the United States, and called it “poisonous.” our national blood,” or “bad genes.” The Trump campaign claimed the comments were directed only at violent criminals and people who are in the U.S. illegally and dependent on social services.
“This country was built [by] They are immigrants,” Correa said, adding that at least half of the employees are foreign-born. “We have a lot of people working here from all over the world. I’m just going to keep moving forward, focus on my business, and make sure I follow people and do the right thing.”
Black men are also key to Gwinnett’s diverse business community, and the Harris campaign has worked to counter Trump’s advances among them. This month, she announced proposals including $1 million in forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs and tax code reforms to encourage employee ownership and profit-sharing plans.
Ron Tyler Jr., who owns Duluth-based entertainment companies Tyler Studios and Payus Productions, said such ideas could help keep costs down.
Ron Tyler Jr. Provided by Ron Tyler Jr.
“Running a production company requires capital, and such financing can be a game-changer to expand your business, purchase better equipment, and expand your reach,” says Atlanta. said Tyler, who has benefited from Georgia’s generous tax incentives that helped turn the company into a production company. A hotbed for companies like Disney and Netflix.
Still, he said, “I want to keep my options open for now” as to which candidate to vote for.
“While the campaign has made strides in highlighting issues that specifically impact black communities, at times black men can feel ignored in the broader conversation,” he said. . “I would like to see more policies focused on closing these gaps and engaging directly with Black men.”
A campaign spokesperson said Harris is “focused on issues that are a priority for Black voters” and has appeared on the podcast “The Shade” with Charlamagne Tha God and journalist Roland Martin. “Room” from a recent interview. She also launched an “Economic Opportunity Tour” in Atlanta this summer, highlighting her administration’s economic achievements for Black communities.
Sharon Katter, who owns an interior design firm in Suwanee and supports the vice president’s economic plan, said Trump’s stance on abortion helped solidify her vote for Harris. Katter cited the high-profile deaths of two pregnant women in Georgia after the state’s six-week abortion ban, in which a family member was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a complication of pregnancy, this summer. He said he almost died.
Sharon Catter. Provided by: Kris Janovitz Photographer LLC
“If you paid me, I wouldn’t vote for Trump,” she said. “I have a baby granddaughter. I want them to have their rights.”
Katter is also concerned about business debt since the pandemic, including a $200,000 federal disaster loan, and said Harris’ support for small businesses and her proposed $50,000 startup tax credit “doesn’t help me.” It resonates,” he said.
“Gwinnett County has grown so much now that we have competitors on the left, right and center,” said Katter, who has not been able to afford full-time staff for more than a decade. added.
Many of Atlanta’s well-known brand employers are headquartered in Gwinnett, including Waffle House, CarMax, and MassMutual. Other large companies, including Airbnb, Microsoft and Target, have recently moved into the area, which some local leaders say is contributing to soaring rents and snarling freeways. There is.
“Businesses are moving to where the population is, but then the population is moving further afield,” said Tad Lighthead, executive director of the Gwinnett region for the Council for Quality Growth, an economic development group in Georgia. “It will leak out,” he said. “The commute time and its vastness are a big challenge.”
Several solutions are in progress. The Biden-Harris administration has earmarked $113 million to improve the notoriously congested Interstate 285/GA-400 interchange, and Gwinnett residents will also receive a 1% sales tax to fund public transportation. I plan to vote on the proposed addition. But how those issues will intersect with national issues at the voting booth is anyone’s guess, Leithead said.
“There’s an old expression that all politics is local,” he says. “A vote for your local county commissioner or mayor can be a much more important vote in terms of day-to-day business impact than a vote at the presidential level.”
