Harris and Walz embark on Georgia bus tour
Written by ABC AUDIO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on August 28, 2024
(WASHINGTON) — Coming off of a brief respite from the campaign trail after a star-studded week in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz are heading to Georgia for a two-day bus tour that ends in a solo rally with the vice president in Savannah.
The tour will mark the first time the two campaigns will be in the crucial swing state together, with a planned stop for their first sit down interview since Harris ascended to the top of the ticket with CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash on Thursday.
Although there is no notable post-convention polling that has been released to date, the campaign saw a bump in donations of $82 million during the week of the DNC, bringing the total haul since launching her candidacy last month to $540 million, her campaign said.
Hoping to ride on that momentum, Harris and Walz are scheduled to travel through Georgia’s southeast where they will be meeting with supporters, small business owners and Georgia voters, according to the campaign. It will be their second venture on a tour with wheels following their Pennsylvania stops prior to the DNC.
President Joe Biden only narrowly won the state by some nearly 12,000 votes in 2020 that former President Donald Trump continues to heavily contest. Currently, she is neck-and-neck with Trump at the polls in the state, according to 538’s average.
“Campaigning in southern Georgia is critical as it represents a diverse coalition of voters, including rural, suburban, and urban Georgians – with a large proportion of Black voters and working class families,” said Harris-Walz Georgia state director Porsha White in a memo.
This is all in addition to their 35,000 new volunteers, as well as more than 190 Democratic campaign staff in 24 coordinated offices across the state, officials said.
Through extensive “Get Out the Vote” organizing efforts, Black voters were a huge contributing factor to Biden’s win in a state that former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had all but skipped during their presidential runs.
Harris’ tour is a testament that the campaign still feels like the Peach State’s 16 electoral votes are in play.
“We turned Georgia blue for the first time in three decades in 2020, and we’re seizing on the energy and putting in the work to win again in 2024,” White said in the memo.
Following CNN’s interview, Walz will head to Massachusetts for a solo rally on Thursday. Voters will see Harris, Walz and their spouses — second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, respectively — on the trail again for a Labor Day blitz across several battleground states prior to ABC News’ debate on Sept. 10.
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