Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, is scheduled to make his first solo visit to Georgia today, on National Voter Registration Day.
Walz has campaigned in Georgia several times alongside United States Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The pair was most recently in Savannah and Hinesville on a bus tour.
4 p.m. – Before boarding a plane to Asheville, North Carolina, where he was to hold a small rally, Walz took pictures with Morehouse College and Spelman College students. A former public school teacher, Walz shines the brightest when he is around young people. On a number of occasions during this visit he joked about being a teacher and teaching former United States President Donald Trump a lesson in humility. Trump held a rally in a small arena in Asheville on August 14.
3:13 p.m. – The cake was made up of two dozen cupcakes and read “Welcome Coach Walz” in white icing. Walz had been greeted qute well throughout the day, but on his first visit to Lee Street, in the heart of the Atlanta University Center, he was welcomed like family at Be Cafe, the last stop for Walz in Atlanta.
“We want everyone to vote. We want everyone to get out there,” said Walz.
2:15 p.m. – Rocky Mountain Pizza, located near the Georgia Tech campus, was packed with student supporters waiting to take part in a quick rally with Walz. Upon entering the restaurant Walz was loudly applauded by what looked like 100-plus students and sounded like 100. He took time to talk to the students about the importance of voting and what the Harris-Walz campaign is working to accomplish this election.
“We’re shaping the next 40 years across the planet,” Walz said. “We’ve got 49 days to shape the next 49 years.”
Walz also talked about Harris’ performance during the first presidential debate in Philadelphia last week and how Georgia will play a crucial part in this election in November.
“Georgia has done a lot for this country. Georgia has given us the best of who we are,” he said.
1:45 p.m. – Walz made a stop at Georgia Tech to visit students at the John Lewis Student Center. With students on campus looking on, Walz made another stop, this time to the food court and Campus Crust to grab a quick bite. He didn’t take any questions from the media, but did talk to a number of students during his visit.
The Democratic National Committee is also launching a youth voter initiative, Youth Vote Week of Action, in order to further galvanize the momentum the Harris-Walz ticket has garnered with younger voters the past couple of months.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
12:59 p.m. – Walz and his daughter Hope landed and were immediately greeted by former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a surrogate for the Biden-Harris campaign and now the Harris-Walz campaign. Walz and Bottoms exchanged a laugh before he got into a van and started his journey to Atlanta.
Walz will make appearances in Atlanta and in Asheville, North Carolina today, while his wife, Gwen Walz, a longtime teacher in Minnesota’s public school system, will be in Nevada today.
Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice
There are several other Harris-Walz surrogates that will be leading Youth Vote Week events around the country, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro at Penn State University, and North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, who is scheduled to speak to students at Livingstone College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Salisbury, NC.
