As Georgia’s prominent role in national politics continues to grow, so could the financial benefits to businesses and industries across the peach state.
The recent high-profile 2020 governor, senate and presidential elections poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaign coffers each year, helping local businesses, restaurants, hotels and venues that have welcomed national audiences.
As we head into the 2024 presidential race, the potential boon for businesses in this contested state is even greater if two developments play out.
Late last year, the rules group of the Democratic National Committee approved a new recommended presidential primary calendar that would catapult Georgia into the thin air of early states in 2024, and the party is considering Atlanta as a finalist for its convention next year.
There are several political and logistical impediments to a primary date change here, both from other states like Iowa and New Hampshire to downgrade, and within Georgia. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he will not hold two separate primary elections or do anything to jeopardize a party’s delegates because GOP rules do not currently provide for changing the order.
But there’s more at stake than positioning oneself in the election of a president: There is evidence that being earlier in the primary process has an economic advantage for these states over others.
A 2018 Washington Post analysis found that the top four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — had higher average per capita political campaign spending than the rest of the country. A study in the Economic Journal, conducted ahead of the 2016 election, estimated that higher state spending related to an elementary school also boosted per capita income by 25% that quarter, with an even greater benefit in the retail sector. and service sector.
Tom Smith, an economist and professor at Emory University, said that Georgia’s rise to the top of the pack means investing more in Georgia employees, things like ordering supplies from a Georgia-based print shop and grilling at a Georgia-based one business restaurant, which is then reissued elsewhere in Georgia, a chain reaction known in economics as the “multiplier effect.”
“Those dollars the grill shop or the local print shop makes? That becomes salaries for the people who work there,” he explained. “And then these people go and buy new shoes or new tires for their car, so the salaries that come from being in political office in the city create more resources for other people in the city, and that money then flows through the economy . “
Georgia was no stranger to hosting big events and touting the economic impact of more people and attention pouring into the state, from the 1996 Olympics to countless conventions and cultural events like Helen’s Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah or Dragon Con in Atlanta.
One part of the retail policy dominating presidential campaign schedules – particularly in the South – is groceries.
Karen Bremer, president and CEO of the Georgia Restaurant Association, said one beneficiary of the state’s political rise is the hospitality industry, which caters to candidates and regulars alike.
“I’ve seen a lot of people benefit from visiting a president or candidate,” she said, like the sweet potato cheesecake enjoyed by former President Bill Clinton of the Sweet Auburn Bread Company in Atlanta, or the crowd of presidents who responded, “What did you get?” from college. “For me, most people have a connection to restaurants, hard work, good food, and supporting the hard-working people who own and operate restaurants and employees.”
National campaigns also draw national media attention to the places they stop, which could bring more exposure to top employers in the state such as agriculture, film, technology and the growing electric vehicle industry.
“If you’re a politician and you want the people of Georgia to vote for you, maybe you need to appeal to them because of their livelihood,” Smith said. “So that means they go to a poultry farm, or they talk to a bunch of Vidalia onion growers, or they visit some kind of technology incubator in Roswell.”
In recent years, candidates in Iowa have worked out their stance on ethanol, sung the praises of shipbuilding in New Hampshire and grappled with nuclear waste problems in Nevada. Georgia could see similar speeches for its constituents in the future.
Politically a hot commodity, Georgia could also spur more economic development and new businesses that aren’t strictly politically relevant, as evidenced by Governor Brian Kemp’s invitation to a panel at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland to discuss the state’s economy speak to an audience of billionaires, executives and other members of the international elite.
Smith, the economist, said the population, the state’s economy, and the nerve-wracking recent election results and runoff show that Georgia is a place worth paying attention to and investing in — regardless of its spot on the main roster .
“This state is important because it has two Democratic senators and a Republican governor; it’s an interesting mix,” he said. “It’s super business-friendly and you have some of the best healthcare systems in the country here, so it’s an interesting mix. They have a lot of people living in Atlanta who are from other places and now they want to move to Atlanta because it’s culturally and demographically diverse, an interesting mix.”
The DNC has given the Georgia Democrats more time to share their plans on how to meet the party’s requirements to move earlier before a full vote in February, and by law the Secretary of State has a while before officially calling a primary date Must.
Even if Georgia doesn’t move up the presidential pecking order or host the DNC’s premier presidential convention next year, the growing importance of its constituents and economy will continue to shine through, attracting political tourists just passing through — and if they do , Bremer said that the gastronomy would be happy to serve you.
“You keep hearing from people about how hospitable the state of Georgia is, how hospitable we are,” she said. “And that’s the greatness of any restaurateur: you want to make everyone welcome, you want them to be comfortable, you want to give them a meal, and you hope they’ll come back.”
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