Harris campaign boosts spending in Georgia, says state is in play

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign will open three new offices in Georgia this week, saying they expect to keep the state firmly in the blue column in November.

The three new offices are on top of the 24 offices already operating in the Peach State and are part of the campaign’s overall spending in competitive sunbelt states. Ms. Harris’ campaign announced the expansion ahead of her scheduled campaign stop in Atlanta on Tuesday. 

It will be her first stop in Georgia since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, and her sixth trip to the state this year. 

Dan Kanninen, director of battleground states for the Harris campaign, said they believe Georgia is in play for two key reasons. He said Ms. Harris is talking about issues such as abortion and student debt that resonate with younger voters in the state. That, coupled with criticism levied at former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, from Republicans in the state, will play in Ms. Harris’ favor, he said.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, has endorsed Ms. Harris and blasted Mr. Trump in a series of personal appearances and op-eds. 

“Having a candidate who can mobilize our key Biden-Harris coalition talking about the issues that resonate with Georgia and the problems [Trump has] with Republicans make the state in play, as are so many of the other states across the sunbelt,” Mr. Kanninen told reporters.

Georgia played a critical role in the last election, handing a victory to President Biden and flipping the Senate to the Democrats with the election of two senators. Several polls released since Ms. Harris replaced Mr. Biden on the top of the ticket last week showed it as a toss-up between her and Mr. Trump.

With roughly 100 days until the election, Ms. Harris has cut into Mr. Trump’s lead in Georgia but has not yet overtaken the former president. The latest poll released last week from Emerson College shows Mr. Trump leading Ms. Harris 48% to 46%, with 7% undecided. Mr. Trump was leading in Georgia 46% to 41% when Mr. Biden was the nominee. 

Stanley Fort, the Democratic chair of Putnam County, Georgia, said Ms. Harris has changed the race in Georgia. He predicts she will soon pass Mr. Trump and win the state.

“She has reenergized the electorate and will get more people out to vote,” he said. “I think her economic and abortion messages will resonate with voters in the rural areas.” 

Jay Wiliams, a Republican strategist, dismissed Ms. Harris’ surge in Georgia as a “sugar high” from replacing Mr. Biden atop the ticket. 

“It’s a right-leaning state,” he said. “She will have to make a good case for herself if you are not right-leaning and she won’t be able to make that case because she is a California liberal.”