Harris' Savannah bus tour signals Georgia is up for grabs

Several thousand supporters, some who waited in line through a downpour, squeezed into the arena to see Harris in her first campaign rally since formally accepting the Democratic nomination. Harris laced her stump speech with nods to Georgia, sending love to “the great president from the state of Georgia, Jimmy Carter” and urging the state to “finally expand Medicare in Georgia.”

Introduced by Katelyn Green, the student body president at Savannah State University — a storied historically Black institution — Harris also reminded Georgia voters of their role in delivering wins for Democrats in 2020.

“For the past two election cycles, voters in this very state have delivered,” Harris said. “You sent two extraordinary senators to Washington, D.C. You sent President Biden and me to the White House. You showed up, you knocked on doors, you registered folks to vote and you made it happen. You did that. And so now we are asking you to do it again.”

Though surrogates billed the bus tour as an illustration of the campaign’s commitment to cutting the margins in deeply Republican, rural and exurban stretches of Georgia, the stops have ultimately focused in and around Savannah, in heavily Democratic Chatham County, and neighboring Liberty County, which voted for Joe Biden with 61 percent of the vote in 2020.

Still, Democrats see the effort to campaign outside of metro Atlanta as a significant development. 

“The road to the White House goes through Georgia and the lane to that road goes through Savannah and coastal Georgia,” says Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who also revved up the rally crowd.

According to the Russell Library at the University of Georgia, the last Democratic presidential candidate to campaign by bus tour in South Georgia was Bill Clinton, who made dozens of stops between Columbus and Valdosta in 1992. Prior to Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia, that election had been the last time a Democrat won Georgia’s electoral college votes. Harris last visited Savannah in February. 

“I don’t think ever in our history, and we’re 291 years old, have we ever had a president or vice president twice in the same year, let alone six months,” Johnson says.

Students from Savannah State University greeted Air Force Two on Wednesday, before Harris and Walz boarded a red, white and blue campaign bus bound for Liberty County High School. The county is roughly 40% Black, with a large contingent of veterans and voters ages 18-29 due to the U.S. Army post Fort Stewart. 

The high school students — marching band kids, football players and cheerleaders — gasped and cheered, seemingly shocked when Harris and Walz showed up at band practice. Walz leaned into his background as a high school teacher and coach; Harris revealed she had played the french horn.

“Sometimes you hit the notes, sometimes you don’t,” Harris told the students. “But all of that practice makes for beautiful music.”

Harris and Walz also popped into Sandfly Barbeque in Savannah, known for its Brunswick stew. “Our politics can be hopeful,” Walz told the diners, “It can be nice.”

Harris also visited Dottie’s Market and trendy downtown restaurant The Grey after taping the ticket’s first joint interview at another local eatery, which airs tonight on CNN. In that interview, Harris made news, saying she intends to appoint a Republican to her cabinet, doubling down on her outreach to independent and Republican-leaning voters who could be key to powering a victory in Georgia.

The cheery stops were designed to showcase the campaign’s appeal outside the big metros and provide a contrast to the Trump campaign’s often darker tone on the trail. U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, campaigned last week in Valdosta. An awkward stop for donuts was widely panned on social media. While the Democratic ticket’s stops seemed to go more naturally, they were still brief and among friendly supporters in mostly blue communities. 

“While our highly engaged and energetic operation in Georgia is focused on turning out votes across the entire state, Democrats in Georgia are finally learning an important lesson: there is more to Georgia than just Atlanta,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Morgan Ackley wrote in a statement. 

Some Democrats had been hopeful Harris planned to cover a broader swath of South Georgia, especially heavily Black and rural Southwest Georgia. In recent years, Democratic candidates like Stacey Abrams, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have invested heavily in these regions. 

“People get excited, people get motivated, especially in an area where you see a lot of apathy that probably comes from people not paying a lot of attention to voters in this region,” says Demetrius Young, a city commissioner in Albany.

Democrats have opened campaign offices with door-knocking and phone banking operations for Harris in communities like Albany and Valdosta. Young says he is feeling optimistic. 

“Because the margins are razor-thin, you have to have every last single vote,” Young says. “Here, you have to get those votes that are down in the weeds so to speak.”