As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made an election eve push for Pennsylvania, their campaigns ratcheted up a final drive Monday to turn out voters in another major battleground — Georgia.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance revved up voters in Cobb County, hoping to bite into Democratic gains in the Atlanta suburbs. Harris’ campaign organized a get-out-the-vote concert near Piedmont Park featuring R&B star Usher and the rapper 2 Chainz.
More than half of Georgia’s active electorate — more than 4 million voters — has already cast its ballots. Now, the rival campaigns are pressing to turn out the millions of Georgians who have yet to vote.
“Do not under any circumstance let anything get between you and your vote,” Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins said. “I don’t care if you’re a long-haul trucker or a long-distance runner. If you didn’t vote early, you better show up tomorrow and you better go vote.”
After an unprecedented campaign shaped by a felony trial, a pair of assassination attempts and the sudden withdrawal of the Democratic incumbent, polls suggest the race in Georgia, Pennsylvania and other battlegrounds could come down to a photo finish.
Vance’s visit was the final stop of a busy Georgia itinerary for the campaigns. Harris and Trump, along with Vance and Tim Walz, made more than a dozen stops in Georgia in the closing weeks of the race. All four stumped in Georgia in the past three days.
Meanwhile, the battle over election procedures raged in courtrooms. The Georgia Supreme Court sided with national Republicans in a Monday ruling that Cobb County may only count absentee ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Credit: Nathan Posner for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Nathan Posner for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The decision, cheered by Trump’s Georgia allies, overturned a decision made by a county judge that gave more than 3,000 voters a few extra days to return their ballots after civil rights groups sued to extend the deadline.
Vance’s final Georgia event drew a few hundred supporters to the Cobb Galleria Centre, an area that once tilted decisively to the GOP but is now solidly Democratic. Trump’s campaign hopes to cut into Democratic advantages in Cobb and other suburbs.
The vice presidential candidate drew some of the loudest cheers by echoing Trump’s pledge to crack down on illegal immigration, saying that a GOP victory on Tuesday would send a clear signal to people in the country unlawfully to “pack your bags because you’re going back home.”
And he said voters shouldn’t be lulled by Harris’ promises of new tax cuts and other incentives.
“We don’t believe you’re the candidate of change. We don’t believe what you say you’ll do. We believe what you’ve done the past 3 1/2 years,” he said. “And you are fired.”
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Supporters of both campaigns entered the final phase on uncertain ground. Mike Wiltse, who chairs the 12th District GOP, said he was sure Trump would win the presidency in 2016.
“I wasn’t so sure about 2020. But I’m feeling confident now,” Wiltse said. “There was weak turnout four years ago, and now Republicans know it’s more important than ever.”
Across the aisle, Democrats see encouraging signs in early voting in left-leaning strongholds. And the campaign is pouring resources into driving up turnout among younger voters and others who don’t regularly vote in presidential races.
“Republicans are underestimating the power of Gen Z voters,” said Ashleigh Ewald, who has been working to energize younger Georgians for Harris. “We couldn’t vote in 2016. Now we can — and we are energized.”
