GEOFF BENNETT: Now to the battleground state of Georgia, one of the most closely divided states in the country, where President Biden beat Donald Trump by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.

This year, voters have shattered early voting records, casting more than two million ballots so far.

Lisa Desjardins begins her report on how some of those voters are feeling in Savannah, the center of a growing region that's in the national political spotlight.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Savannah, a blitz of blue.

Across the street from an early voting location in Chatham County, Kamala Harris supporters are working for a repeat after Democrats' narrow 2020 Georgia win, the party's first in nearly three decades.

This is personal.

TENIKA BOLTON, Georgia Resident: She is giving me my right back to my body.

I get to do what I want to do with it.

She is giving me my right to for my children's future.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is close.

KRISTY EDENFIELD, Savannah Federation of Democratic Women: We have to work hard in Chatham County and in Savannah to pull every blue vote we can, because they're working just as hard as we are.

LISA DESJARDINS: And the feeling is, this is their region's moment.

AARON WHITELY, Democratic Party of Chatham County: Whenever people come to Georgia, they think Atlanta, but the coast matters.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is coastal Georgia, known for shaded squares and Southern charm, but politically a place of sharp contrasts.

With two blue counties, Liberty and Chatham, home to Savannah, surrounded by a fleet of bright red ones.

The Savannah economy and population have been booming for over a decade.

This is the fastest growing part of Georgia, and now politicians are catching up.

Last month, former President Donald Trump came, touting his manufacturing plans.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Hello, Savannah.

And hello, Georgia.

We love Georgia.

LISA DESJARDINS: The month before... KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Savannah, the baton is in our hands.

(CHEERING) LISA DESJARDINS: ... Vice President Harris made the area the center of a bus tour.

They were the first presidential campaign visits here in more than 30 years.

Both campaigns are trying to win over the skeptical and excite the faithful like Tabatha Strozier.

TABATHA STROZIER, Harris Supporter: I went to the rally for Harris, and the energy was phenomenal.

LISA DESJARDINS: How does that compare with the way you felt about this election, let's say, six months ago?

TABATHA STROZIER: I was disheartened.

It was very obvious that the majority of the Democrats really were not behind Biden.

LISA DESJARDINS: But now Tabatha is a Harris volunteer, among the reasons, reproductive rights.

At least two women's deaths have been tied to Georgia's abortion ban.

WOMAN: What happened to her was preventable.

LISA DESJARDINS: An issue highlighted in Harris campaign ads.

Tabatha is also a small businesswoman and likes Harris on the economy.

TABATHA STROZIER: I know prices are high for food and gasoline and fuel, but we are coming back from the downfall of the pandemic.

The economy is getting better.

We're ending the year really well.

LISA DESJARDINS: Same region, but a very different view from Trump voter Leslie Evans.

LESLIE EVANS, Trump Supporter: To go to the grocery store, it takes almost twice to three times the amount to put the same amount of groceries in my house.

And cost of living has went up.

However, wages haven't.

Cash or card, sweetie?

LISA DESJARDINS: Leslie is more than a voter.

She runs two stores that sell all things Trump.

She also works two other jobs, why she misses Trump.

LESLIE EVANS: We have already had four years.

He's shown what he can do.

And in that time that he was there, everything was better.

I have to work three jobs.

It's not because I want to.

LISA DESJARDINS: That is a common theme for local Republicans like these in bright red Bryan County, celebrating early voters with free hot dogs.

Chris Benton told us money went further for him under Trump and that he felt more respected.

CHRIS BENTON, Trump Supporter: You got a lot of people that I know that are on the left that look down on people like me who don't didn't go to college.

I have got so many people I know that kind of look down on me.

It's all, what are you doing with your life and this and that.

You don't get that from Trump.

LISA DESJARDINS: These Republicans have changed strategies from 2020, now pushing for early votes.

But Democrats have changed too, now working harder in more rural areas, aiming to cut into GOP margins.

Even if Democrats lose these counties, losing by less than they have in the past could boost their chances in the state.

And Republicans admit demographics are morphing.

JORDAN GIVEN, Bryan County Republican Party: Historically, this is a red county.

It is slowly starting to shift.

LISA DESJARDINS: This makes marginal reluctant voters key, like fourth-generation farmer Andrew L. Smith Sr. How hard has the decision been between Trump and Harris for you this election?

ANDREW L. SMITH SR., Farmer: It has been excruciating.

LISA DESJARDINS: Andrew felt the Biden administration repeatedly ignored or broke promises to Black farmers after admitting the Agriculture Department discriminated against them for generations.

That wavering by some Black voters in the South has given the Trump campaign hope.

At this point, I don't know if anyone knows how you voted.

ANDREW L. SMITH SR.: My wife.

(LAUGHTER) LISA DESJARDINS: He revealed his decision to us with some flair.

ANDREW L. SMITH SR.: Right now, ba-dah.

LISA DESJARDINS: Voted for Harris.

ANDREW L. SMITH SR.: Yes.

And I have got farmers that I have been visiting and sitting down at the table with, and we are pulling this thing in the right direction.

LISA DESJARDINS: Andrew says more engagement and Harris' stop in his county, Liberty County, were big factors.

At the same time, on the right... FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON (R-GA): It's been tough.

LISA DESJARDINS: ... some longtime Republicans like former state Senator Eric Johnson are leery and weary of Trump, including his continued lie that he won here in 2020.

DONALD TRUMP: I love this state.

I won this state twice, in my opinion.

FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON: The election was not stolen in Georgia.

I think COVID beat him.

I think that the COVID changed the whole election format and it played right into the Democrats' grassroots efforts.

LISA DESJARDINS: Johnson was part of a lawsuit that successfully blocked a number of last-minute rules passed by Georgia's Trump-aligned election board.

Even so, Johnson has landed with the party he believes in and the devil he knows.

FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON: I am reluctantly voting for Trump.

And I hope that Trump has learned from his win and his loss that he needs to put some people around that he will listen to.

LISA DESJARDINS: Do you think Trump has ever changed?

FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON: No.

But I'm hopeful.

LISA DESJARDINS: How do you know that's not wishful thinking?

FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON: I don't.

I don't.

I mean, I don't know any time I vote, whether the candidates will turn out the way I hope they will or if they keep the promises that they have told me they will.

LISA DESJARDINS: There is hope here in coastal Georgia, but woven with concern.

The race is impossibly close, still up for grabs.

And in a place people come to relax, nearly everyone is anxious for the election to end.

FMR.

STATE SEN. ERIC JOHNSON: If it's Kamala, it's Kamala.

If it's Trump, it's Trump.

But let's -- you know, let's just get on with our lives and get this election over with.

LISA DESJARDINS: For the "PBS News Hour," I am Lisa Desjardins in Savannah, Georgia.