ATLANTA – Former First Lady Michelle Obama has a star-studded “Celebrate Georgia!” Closed drive-in concert rally on Sunday by making a passionate plea by video to help Democrats regain control of the U.S. Senate by winning two elections on January 5th.
“There are a lot of people counting on you to postpone this election,” Obama said as more than 150 cars honked their horns as he illuminated five large screens in the parking lot of the Cellairis Amphitheater. “But if you take control of your power, you and the people in your community can determine the direction of this state and this country.”
“Thousands of people from Savannah to Augusta to Atlanta have already voted,” she added. “We trust you to talk to your friends and family to make a plan on election day.”
Other notable live guests at the event included musical artists Monica, Rick Ross and Jeezy, who all performed. Rapper Common, actress Tracee Elliss Ross and professional basketball player Chris Paul were among those who appeared via video.
The event was co-hosted by Obama’s When We All Vote, a non-profit organization launched to increase voter turnout, and The New Georgia Project, a progressive grassroots group seeking to register Georgians to vote.
“I know we can count on you because you are a leader in voter turnout,” Obama said. “If we all vote, we make sure it’s us that shapes our future.”
After the early voting ended Thursday, more than 3 million Georgians, according to state election data, had already voted in the run-up to the Senate. These types of off-bike races usually draw much less than the higher-profile presidential race, but these two races have attracted national attention.
Republicans currently hold the majority of the Senate seats 50-48, which means Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will both have to win to give Kamala Harris, the elected vice president, the casting vote in an ongoing chamber. If one of them loses, Republicans would retain control of the Senate and retain the ability to block Democratic initiatives and fire President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet appointments.
Georgia went Democratic in the presidential election with about 12,000 votes and turned the state around for the first time since 1992, but critics question whether it is actually becoming more progressive. Two days after the run-off games, President Trump remains big. On Saturday, he was included in a call threatening Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger with the possibility of criminal charges if he did not find 11,780 votes to block the final result in the state.
The by-elections will show whether Georgia has become more friendly to Democrats if Trump is not directly on the ballot.
“We are America’s new swing state,” New Georgia Project CEO Nsé Ufot said at the event on Sunday. “Our voice is a tool to protect ourselves.”
Patricia Carr, who attended Sunday’s event, had never before thought her voice mattered.
“Now that the state is turning blue, I know my vote matters,” Carr, 49, told Yahoo News. “I am confident that Warnock and Ossoff will win on Tuesday.”
Nazar Turner brought her teenage daughter to the event to enjoy the artists but also to emphasize the importance of voices.
“I am voting because my people could not vote and died for it,” Turner, 42, told Yahoo News. “Women could not vote 50 years ago.”
Turner added that it all means hearing Obama speak.
“She was our first black first lady,” she said. “Her speech to my child is important in our lineage. She knows by the time she’s 18, she should vote. ‘
Below are the most important dates for Georgians to remember before the Senate by-elections on January 5, 2021
(Cover thumbnail by Elijah Nouvelage via Getty Images)
_____
Read more from Yahoo News: