What Steve Kornacki is watching tonight: From Politiken’s desk

Welcome to an election day edition of From the Politics Desk where we set you up with everything you need before the results start rolling in tonight. We’ll be back in your inbox early tomorrow morning with the latest.

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3 bell ready counties to watch tonight

By Steve Kornacki

After months of stump speeches, ads and polls, we are now just hours away from polls closing across the country. As the results roll in tonight, starting on the East Coast, there are three battleground counties in particular I’ll be keeping a close eye on to get a sense of which way the political winds are blowing in the presidential race.

Fayette County, Georgia: Key to Democratic success in Georgia in recent elections has been the growing Atlanta metro area. Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Douglas, Cobb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton and Henry counties have made up a “blue blob” of support for the party right in the middle of the state. One of the questions going into this election is whether Kamala Harris can continue to expand the blob beyond the nine counties.

Fayette County, south of Fulton and home to Peachtree City, is a place that could be a harbinger of Donald Trump’s weakness if he loses further support in metro Atlanta.

Nash County, North Carolina: The county voted for Barack Obama in 2012, Trump in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Whoever wins the county tonight may signal what the national picture will look like.

Northeast of Raleigh, Nash County is about 40% black, a population that may help illuminate how this particular group of working-class voters is engaging this year.

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania: A 3-point Hillary Clinton victory in this county in 2016 turned into an 8-point victory for Biden in 2020, as his Scranton roots may have helped him win back some of the voters who have swung noticeably toward Trump since 2012. White working-class voters, along with a growing Latino population, are the dynamics to watch as Lackawanna could take another hard turn against Trump.

Your election night guide

• Here’s an hour-by-hour guide to when the battleground state elections close, the most competitive congressional races and many of the most important ballots to watch, all organized by poll closing time.
• In addition to the three listed by Steve above, here are the other key counties to watch across the swing states.
• And here are the down-ballot races that could serve as early bellwethers.

That’s all from the Political Desk for now. If you have feedback – like or dislike – email us at [email protected]

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