As the nation counted the remaining ballots that will decide the presidential election, Clayton County found itself in the national spotlight.
Cable TV news outlets showcased the county as former Vice President Joe Biden opened up a narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia early Friday morning as absentee ballots continued to be counted.
Biden led by 917 votes after Clayton County counted more absentee ballots. Biden won 87% of ballots tabulated between late Thursday night and Friday morning in Clayton, located south of Atlanta.
Here’s a quick look at the county:
The people
With a population of about 300,000, Clayton is Georgia’s fifth-largest largest county and home to the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International.
Demographically, Clayton is about 73% Black, 19% white, 13% Hispanic and 5% Asian, according to 2019 Census Bureau figures. The median income is about $46,000 and almost 18% of residents live below the poverty level, according to the Census.
Clayton County, the third-smallest county in the state by geography, also struggles as one of metro Atlanta’s poorest communities and generally has the highest unemployment. Housing in the county is less expensive than most of that found in metro Atlanta and a large percentage of it is rental units.
In the headlines
In recent years, the county has been in the news because of its controversial sheriff, Victor Hill, who accidentally shot a woman in a model home in which the woman worked, and also arrested the wife of a man who said he planned to run against him for the office. But Hill is very popular in the south metro community and won another four-year term Tuesday.
The school system also lost its accreditation briefly in 2008 over deep-rooted problems between the Clayton Board of Education and district leadership. The school system rebounded and its superintendent, Morcease Beasley, pushed hard throughout the 2020 presidential campaign to get residents to register to vote.
More recently, the county received notoriety as being the home of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s great-great-great grandmother. Melvinia “Mattie” Shields was enslaved on a small farm in Rex, a small community in the northeastern portion of the county.
Attractions and business
It has a college -- Clayton State University -- and offers attractions such as the National Archives at Atlanta in Morrow and the Road to Tara Museum in Jonesboro, which features memorabilia based on the movie “Gone With the Wind.” Atlanta Motor Speedway, part of the NASCAR circuit, is nearby just over the line with Henry County.
Clayton is also the home of Porsche’s North American headquarters, whose building was superhero headquarters in the first Avengers movie. Toto USA, the Japanese manufacturer of bathroom toilets and fixtures, also is based in Clayton as well as LTI, a food service equipment supplier.
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