April 25, 2024
ATLANTA – Moving up Georgia’s presidential primaries to put the Peach State fourth in the primary calendar would reap huge economic benefits, according to a new study.
Early Democratic and Republican presidential primaries next year could generate nearly $220 million in economic impact and create more than 2,200 jobs, Emory University finance professor Thomas More Smith concluded in a study released last week.
The report accounted only for the effects of campaign spending by candidates, national and regional committees representing political parties, and political action committees. It did not include spending by media organizations that would flood Georgia to cover early primaries.
Smith also based his findings on a scenario that would include 11 Republican candidates but only one Democrat: President Joe Biden. An open election in 2028, when presumably neither party would have an incumbent running, would yield even greater economic impact, the study concludes.
Smith also predicted the economic effects of early primaries wouldn’t be limited to metro Atlanta.
“The most recent elections [2020 general election, 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs, and 2022 general election and runoff] proved the importance of exurban counties, smaller rural counties, and other metro areas (such as Columbus, Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Albany, Valdosta, Athens, Rome, and more),” the report states.
“In 2024 and beyond, candidates will have to secure votes across the state to run a competitive race. As such, the economic impact of the early primary will spread across the state.”
The prospects of early primaries in Georgia next year, however, are dubious at best. The Democratic National Committee voted last month to approve an early presidential primary calendar for 2024 that includes Georgia.
Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, also supports the idea of early presidential primaries. But Raffensperger said this month he wouldn’t want to change the primary calendar until 2028.
With Republicans not on board with moving up the GOP primary next year, it likely won’t happen because of the cost of holding presidential primaries on different dates.
