Forty-four came back to the Southside. Former President Barack Obama rallied with Georgia Democrats in Morrow on Wednesday, pushing voters in Clayton County and across metro Atlanta to show up for governor candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in the final days of early voting.
“Change Is in the Air”
The “United for Georgia” rally was held at the Arena at Southlake in Morrow, according to Gray Television’s WRDW. Organizers had billed it as a push to get Georgians to vote early for Ossoff, Bottoms and Democrats down the ballot, the AJC reported.
On stage, Obama struck an upbeat note, telling the crowd, “Everywhere you go, it feels like change is in the air,” according to the Associated Press. He also kept the back-and-forth with President Donald Trump going over his recent “Cheesecake Factory” joke about White House decor, dismissing the criticism by saying, “These are not serious people,” the AP reported. The Daily Beast reported he also told the crowd Republicans “do not have solutions to serious problems.”
Ossoff went after the administration on ethics, calling the president’s use of his office for profit “a spectacle of grift unprecedented in American history,” per the AP.
The Races on the Ballot
Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, is running against Republican businessman Rick Jackson to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp. If she wins, she would become the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. The AJC has described the race as tight.
Ossoff is seeking a second term against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who has closely aligned himself with Trump. National Democrats see the seat as key to their Senate hopes. Trump has also been in Georgia this month, rallying in Perry for Collins, Jackson and other Republicans, according to WRDW and WSB-TV.
The star power isn’t slowing down. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to campaign in Georgia later this week.
Know before you go: Early voting in Georgia ends Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Check your polling place and sample ballot on the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
Why it matters: Whatever your politics, this election could make history for Black women in the South, and both parties are treating Georgia as a must-win state. Metro Atlanta’s turnout, especially in Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton, could decide who leads the state and who represents it in the Senate.
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Sources: Associated Press, WRDW, AJC, CBS News Atlanta, The Daily Beast
