Michelle Obama is headed to Georgia after imploring Democrats to ‘do something’

Michelle Obama speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Michelle Obama speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.

Former President Bill Clinton has crisscrossed Georgia for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Barack Obama has hit other battleground states. Now his wife, Michelle Obama, has scheduled a stop in Atlanta.

The former first lady will headline an Oct. 29 rally for When We All Vote, the nonpartisan voter outreach initiative that she founded in 2018 with the aim of turning out younger, more diverse voters.

While organizers won’t specifically advocate for Harris, the event is aimed at mobilizing left-leaning voters who Democrats need to turn out in huge numbers to recapture a state as closely divided as Georgia.

“Together, we will take our momentum and energy to the ballot box and set the tone for the entire country — especially first-time voters — to vote early,” said Beth Lynk, the group’s executive director.

The organization, which says the Atlanta rally will be a nonpartisan gathering, holds events in battleground states across the nation often featuring celebrities, including one earlier this week in Arizona with actor Mark Ruffalo. Organizers didn’t immediately say who would attend the Atlanta rally.

Both campaigns are fighting to turn out early voters during Georgia’s three week early voting period, which started on Tuesday and ends days after the Obama event.

The former first lady regularly polls among Democrats as one of the party’s most popular figures. Though she has yet to hit the campaign trail for Harris, Obama implored thousands of supporters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to step up for the vice president.

“So if they lie about her — and they will — we’ve got to do something,” she said of GOP attacks on Harris to cheers from the United Center crowd.