U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are both shown on the campaign trail. Ernst, speaking on behalf of former President Donald Trump, and Emhoff, speaking on behalf of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, visited Athens within the space of a week to get out votes for their respective candidates. “This is the first election I’m voting in, and this is the first election that excites me,” University of Georgia student Sydney Palmer stated during her speech at Vice President Harris’s campaign event. Photo by Wyatt Meyer
Presidential campaigns for both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris visited Athens in October as Election Day looms on Nov. 5.
As Election Day draws closer, campaigns for both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have stopped in Athens during the last month to make a last push for the city’s undecided voters.
Georgia, regarded by political analysts as a key battleground state in the 2024 election, has been the site of more than 10 campaign events over the last three months featuring either former President Trump, Vice President Harris or U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has yet to make a campaign stop in Georgia as of Oct. 23.
However, none of the four members of the Republican or Democratic tickets were directly involved in the Athens’ events – the rallies instead featured prominent party members appealing to voters on behalf of the candidates.
“This is the first election I’m voting in, and this is the first election that excites me,” University of Georgia student Sydney Palmer stated during her speech at Vice President Harris’s campaign event in Athens. “This is the election where young voters like you and me will decide who ends up in the Oval Office.”
Former President Trump’s Team Trump Bus Tour, featuring U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, former White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Georgia State Representative Houston Gaines and more stopped in Athens on Oct. 4.
A photo gallery shows the Team Trump Bus Tour’s stop in Athens on Oct. 4. Republican speakers stressed the importance of the Biden-Harris’s administration perceived foreign policy failures, a popular topic among rally attendees. “When I was in the military under Trump, we were all very proud to serve. Since then, I think the people of this nation have been forgotten,” University of Georgia sophomore Patrick Hamilton, a military veteran who attended the rally, said. Photos by Wyatt Meyer
The bus stopped in the parking lot at 598 S. Milledge Ave. for a little over an hour, where Ernst headlined the group of speakers touting former President Trump’s tax policies and bashing the Biden-Harris administration’s record on the economy and immigration.
The tour then stopped at UGA’s Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, where those affiliated with the bus tour spoke with fraternity members in a more casual setting for half an hour.
“We need (to give) everything back to the American citizens, the way it’s supposed to be. We need to make America great again,” rally attendee Kamal Simmons, the owner of a limousine company, said. “Trump came to office and he made it so all us Black people (could) be entrepreneurs (and) put money to the Black community. (A second Trump term) will give me a chance to support my family more.”
Six days later on Oct. 10, Vice President Harris’s campaign held a “Get Out The Vote with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff” rally at event space 1055 Barber. The event, which lasted almost four hours, featured speeches from Emhoff, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz and UGA students followed by a musical performance by former Athens band R.E.M.’s frontman Michael Stipe.
A photo gallery shows various Democratic leaders speaking at the “Get Out The Vote with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff” event at 1055 Barber on Oct. 10. Emhoff and his fellow speakers attacked former President Trump’s record defending personal liberties, which drew loud boos from the crowd of attendees. “I definitely (agree with Vice President Harris) on reproductive and social rights, but I think people also don’t highlight her economic policies as much. She’s projected to produce less of a fiscal deficit as Trump is anyway and I want that future,” University of Georgia freshman Ella Blake Bourough, who attended the rally, said. Photos by Wyatt Meyer
The Democratic rally’s speakers focused on Vice President Harris’s fitness for office. Emhoff touted his wife’s character and persistence, while simultaneously questioning former President Trump’s temperament during his time in the Oval Office.
Abortion and gun safety were buzz words for Emhoff and his fellow speakers, who stressed the dangers a potential second term for Trump would have on personal liberties.
“Harris has by far the most experience at every level of any presidential candidate, at least in my lifetime. She also has done an excellent job as Vice President under very difficult circumstances,” rally attendee Kimberly Davis, a former journalist, said. “The fact that she was Joe Biden’s choice for Vice President in such a turbulent time really made me understand that she was the best person, not only for the vice presidency, but also for this presidency.”
“This is the election where young voters like you and me will decide who ends up in the Oval Office,”
— Sydney Palmer,
University of Georgia student
The voter registration deadline in Georgia expired on Oct. 7, meaning unregistered citizens will no longer be able to vote. The deadline, among the earliest in the country, meant speakers focused on driving registered voters to the polls rather than encouraging new ones to sign up.
“It is time to go. It’s early voting. I ask you, vote early. We have three weeks of early voting,” Gaines stated in his speech. “Go vote on the first day of early voting and take five friends with you, and then every day after that, take five friends with you ‘til November fitfth.”
