ATLANTA, GA — When Vice President Kamala Harris headlines a rally Tuesday night in the capital and largest city in battleground Georgia, she will be in front of the largest crowd this cycle for the Democratic Party's national ticket.
Hours before the vice president arrived in Atlanta, the Georgia State Convocation Center, which has a rated capacity of 8,000 for concerts, was filling up with supporters.
It's another sign of the energy and enthusiasm returning to the party nine days after President Biden's shocking announcement that he was suspending his re-election campaign against former President Trump and endorsing his vice president.
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The crowd grows inside the Georgia State Convocation Center ahead of a rally led by Vice President Kamala Harris, July 30, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Biden’s immediate endorsement of Harris sparked a wave of support for the vice president from governors, senators, House members and other Democratic Party leaders and figures. Within 36 hours, Harris announced she had secured her party’s nomination by securing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 convention delegates.
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“Freedom is at stake at the ballot box this November. That's why I'll be in Atlanta tonight with @theestallion to talk about what's at stake in this election,” the vice president wrote in a social media post on her way to Atlanta.
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is expected to perform at the rally, which received nearly 20,000 reservations to attend ahead of the event.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at West Allis Central High School during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 23, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris' visit is a key test of Democrats' momentum on the ground in the key southeastern state where Biden narrowly edged out Trump four years ago.
Once a red stronghold, Georgia has become extremely competitive in presidential, Senate and gubernatorial elections in recent cycles, thanks in large part to the growing strength of Black and Latino voters, who make up a key part of the Democratic base in the state.
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But Biden's disastrous performance against Trump in a debate in late June in Atlanta fueled questions about his physical and mental fitness to serve another four years in the White House.
This also sparked a growing chorus of calls within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term in the White House.
Trump's lead over Biden in key states, including Georgia, began to grow in public opinion polls following the debate.
The former president intends to retake Georgia in November.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio introduces Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a rally July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
And hours before Harris arrived in Atlanta, the Trump campaign announced that the former president and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, will hold a rally Saturday at the Georgia State Convocation Center — the same location where Harris will be on Tuesday.
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Trump is likely to easily fill the venue, as the former president has drawn large crowds to his rallies since launching his 2024 campaign more than a year and a half ago.
The Harris campaign, ahead of the Atlanta rally, highlighted the campaign's large lead over the Trump campaign in key states.
Battleground states director Dan Kanninen noted that the campaign had 24 coordinated offices in Georgia, well before the Trump campaign, which opened its first office in June.
“This advantage on the battlefield will almost certainly be decisive in a race that will likely be decided by just a few tens of thousands of votes,” Kanninen argued.
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