The presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is planning a series of watch parties across Georgia to energize voters as Harris officially accepts the Democratic nomination for President on the final day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Watch parties will be held in Atlanta, Savannah and Albany featuring local leaders, volunteers and members of the community fired up to again put Georgia in the blue column this November after the state narrowly went for now-President Joe Biden in 2020.
Some of the expected speakers at the watch parties include state Sens. Derek Mallow and Freddie Powell Sims, Chatham County District 6 Commissioner Aaron Whitely, Dougherty County Party Chair Joyce Barlow, Fulton County Commissioner-elect Mo Ivory, and other local leaders and influencers tapped to rally support for Harris and Walz as they enter the final weeks of campaigning against former President Donald Trump.
The Thursday watch parties will come as Harris is expected to officially accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for President just weeks after Biden stepped aside and handed her the torch. Since then, enthusiasm has grown for the presidential ticket.
Georgia is among seven key battleground states, but is perhaps the toughest to capture for Democrats. The Center for Politics’ Sabato’s Crystal Ball recently moved neighboring North Carolina from “leans Republican” into the toss-up category. The outlet’s analysis noted that while recent North Carolina polls show stronger performance for the Vice President and her new running mate, it’s Georgia that may be the easier sell.
The reason Sabato’s Crystal Ball is banking more on Georgia than North Carolina for Democrats is that Georgia has a larger Black electorate than its neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, the Atlanta metro has become a much stronger hotspot for Democrats than in North Carolina’s blue metros of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.
And that’s why one of the watch parties planned for Thursday night will be in Atlanta, starting at 6 p.m. at an as-yet undisclosed location. That’s where Ivory is expected to speak.
The Savannah and Albany events, whose locations have also not yet been publicly announced, both start at 8 p.m. Mallow, Whitley and Savannah City Council member Gabrielle Nelson are expected to speak at the Savannah event. Sims, Barlow and state Rep. David Sampson are expected to speak at the Albany watch party.
Pop star Pink is expected to perform at the final night of the DNC. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights leader, is also slated to speak.
