If Amazon chooses Atlanta for its 50,000-job second national headquarters, it would become the state's largest employer. Besides the job and economic growth it could mean, Amazon can also supercharge the changing demographics of the once-reliably Republican state, and hand it to the Democrats.
“Amazon coming to Georgia could impact our political alignment," Robinson Republic President Brian Robinson said. Robinson is the former chief communications officer for Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican who is in his final year in office. "The numbers are big enough and could make a difference.”
Democrats have gained ground every year in Republican-controlled state politics over the past few election cycles. In Georgia's 6th Congressional District — one of its most conservative — Republicans' margin of victory has shrunk from 60% in 2002 to less than 5% last year, according to Vox.
For statewide elections, Democrats are shy of about 200,000 votes to be competitive for the gubernatorial vote and other statewide seats, said Charles Bullock, the Richard B. Russell Professor of Political Science at the School for Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia.
In some longtime Republican stalwart areas, such as Gwinnett and Cobb counties, President Donald Trump won against Hillary Clinton by a razor-thin margin, a big change from past presidential elections, Bullock said.
Bullock said depending on the number of employees Amazon brings to Georgia it has the potential to turn Georgia blue in future elections. Robinson said this has a cadre of conservatives in state politics concerned about the impact Amazon could have on future elections
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