Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), embarked on a two-day bus tour of southeast Georgia on Wednesday as part of an effort to reach voters in more rural areas of the battleground state.
Harris and Waltz made a stop at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, a city of about 35,000, to address students in the school's band. Waltz and Harris, both former teachers, spoke about the importance of grooming the younger generation to be future leaders.
“This isn't a cliché. This is really about building for the future, and you are that future,” Waltz said.
“Your generation, what you stand for, everything you put your stake in will propel this country into the next era and drive what we can achieve and what we can become,” Harris said.
Harris told the students that she was also a member of the school band as a child.
The Georgia trip will mark the first time that Harris and Walz have visited the key battleground state together. Harris spoke to thousands in Atlanta earlier this month ahead of the vice presidential selection process.
The bus tour will travel through southern Georgia and conclude with a rally in the Savannah area with Harris after Walz leaves the state on Thursday night, during which the two will also give a joint interview with CNN.
The campaign has invested heavily in the Peach State, with more than 170 Democratic staffers stationed in 24 affiliate offices across the state.
President Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in the 2020 presidential election, becoming the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. The state will be crucial for former President Trump in the November election because it represents one of his clearest chances to win the electoral votes as he charts a path to 270 electoral votes.
Trump and his team are trying to present a united front with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, whom Trump has previously mocked and attacked for refusing to question the results of the 2020 election.
A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of Georgia polls showed Trump leading Harris in the state by about 3 percentage points.
“Georgians are united in one thing: they know America cannot afford four more years of Kamala Harris' failed, weak and dishonest leadership,” Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.
