By Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Seven battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — are expected to play a decisive role in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Here are ten counties to watch in those states. Early results based on partial returns may not be predictive of the final vote tallies in the counties.
COBB COUNTY, GEORGIA
Democrats see the large and racially diverse Cobb County in Atlanta’s northern suburbs as somewhere they could pick up the large number of votes needed to win the state. That’s what Democratic President Joe Biden did in 2020 when he won the county by some 14 percentage points. In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton carried Cobb county by just 2 percentage points and lost the state to Trump.
Around 9:30 p.m. ET, with an estimated 80% of the ballots in Cobb County counted, Trump was winning 41% and Harris 58%.
BALDWIN COUNTY, GEORGIA
In central Georgia, Baldwin County is much smaller than Cobb but an indicator of Black voter turnout. About 40% of voters in the county are Black. This is one place in Georgia where Biden’s 2020 margin was narrower than Clinton’s in 2016.
Around 9:30 p.m. ET, Edison Research reported that nearly all ballots have been counted. Trump had won 51% of the votes and Harris 49%.
WAKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
The city of Raleigh in Wake County, North Carolina, has boosted statewide turnout for Democrats in recent elections. That was the case in 2020 when Biden won 65% of the vote there, still not enough to keep Trump from carrying the state.
In Wake County, North Carolina, with estimates that 75% of the ballots have been counted, Trump had won 35% of the votes tallied so far and Harris had won 64%.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
The suburbs of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital, have supported Trump in the last two elections. But Democrats could cut those gains in Cumberland County by attracting the area’s growing population of white collar workers. In 2020, Trump won this county by 11 points.
In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, with an estimated 50% of the ballots counted, Trump won 48% of the votes tallied so far and Harris won 50%.
WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN
The populous western suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have been another stronghold for Trump in the past two campaigns and the Republican won here by more than 20 percentage points each time. Voters in this county will need to support Trump at similar levels in order for the Republican to win back the state after Biden carried it in 2020.
In Waukesha County, Wisconsin, with an estimated 40% of the ballots counted, Trump won 61% of the votes and Harris won 38%.
ERIE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
Erie County in northwest Pennsylvania has voted for the winner in the last four elections, including Biden in 2020. Biden won the county by a single percentage point. In 2016, Trump won the county by 2 points.
Edison Research has reported only a small fraction of the votes counted so far.
BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
North of Philadelphia, Bucks County in Pennsylvania is another highly competitive county due to its large population of working class voters. Trump has made major inroads into that demographic in his eight years on the national political stage. The former president lost this county to Biden in 2020 by 4 percentage points, handing the state to the Democrat
Edison Research has reported only a small fraction of the votes have been counted so far.
MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA
Home to Phoenix, Maricopa County is key to winning the southwestern state as it makes up about 60% of the statewide vote. In the 2020 election, President Biden won this county by 2.2 percentage points while former President Donald Trump won the county by almost 3 percentage points in 2016.
Polls in Maricopa County, Arizona close at 7 p.m. Edison Research has not yet reported any votes.
WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
Home to Detroit’s 1.7 million residents, Wayne County, Michigan, is about 40% Black. In 2020, Biden won here with more than 68% of the vote, helping him clinch the state.
Polls in Wayne County, Michigan close at 8 p.m. Edison Research has not yet reported any votes.
WASHOE COUNTY, NEVADA
In the northwest corner of Nevada around Reno, Washoe County is less racially diverse than the Las Vegas area, but has been trending more Democratic in recent elections. Biden won this county by more than 4 percentage points in 2020.
Polls in Washoe County, Nevada close at 7 p.m. Edison Research has not yet reported any votes.
The share of each county’s vote that has been counted so far is based on estimates by Edison Research of the number of votes that are likely to be cast there.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
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