(NEXSTAR) — “Good trouble” became one of the slogans of 2020 following the death of longtime Democratic representative and civil rights activist John Lewis, who coined the expression.
The phrase, which references upsetting the establishment in the name of progress, echoed during a tumultuous summer that included hundreds of thousands of Americans protesting against systemic racism after the death of George Floyd.
But the voters who elected Lewis, a 17-term congressman, found a way to upend election expectations without much trouble — they simply cast ballots.
As votes trickled in early Friday morning, Lewis’ reliably Democratic Clayton County filed a batch of nearly 2,000 votes just before 4:30 a.m. local time, flipping the race from a small lead for President Donald Trump to a 917-vote advantage for Biden.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Thousands of ballots are still left to be counted, many in counties where the former vice president was in the lead.
In the leadup to the election, Georgia was not considered to be among the six 2016 Trump states likely to swing for Biden. A victory for Biden would be the first time the state went to a Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992, when Ross Perot helped to pull votes from George H.W. Bush.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Clayton is the most heavily Democratic county in the state.
An AP analysis showed that Biden’s vote margins grew as counties processed mail ballots cast in his favor.
There is a potential that the race could go to a recount. Under Georgia law, if the margin between Biden and Trump is under half a percentage point of difference, a recount can be requested.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.