In the final days of the 2024 election, Gwen Walz visits Macon to encourage early voting.

As the 2024 election winds down, Gwen Walz, the first lady of Minnesota and wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, made a stop in Macon’s Pleasant Hill neighborhood Thursday to knock on doors.

She was hoping to convince residents to vote in the upcoming presidential election, where Georgia could have a pivotal role.

The event is one of many in Macon seeking to increase voter turnout and featuring national figures from both sides of the aisle. Early voting turnout in Georgia has already shattered records, but both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hope that turning out their supporters could swing a state that President Joe Biden won in 2020 by less than 12,000 votes.

In recent weeks, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst have been among Macon’s visitors. With early voting ending Nov. 1, Walz hoped to encourage turnout and highlight on-the-ground efforts by Democrats to raise support for Harris.

“A new way forward, it’s right here,” Walz said. “It’s within our reach.”

A new battleground

After Georgia flipped for Biden in 2020, it became a major battleground state for Democrats and Republicans alike. Polls currently show Georgia in a dead heat, and its 16 electoral votes could be a boon for whoever wins it.

Some Maconites have been caught off guard by the rush of attention their city has received in the last few months. Prior to this year, visits from presidential candidates to Middle Georgia were few and far between, with campaigns instead choosing to focus on areas with a higher population such as Atlanta.

But Democrats have varied their strategy to try and pick up more votes in rural areas and areas with large Black populations. This coupled with Republicans wanting to solidify their popularity among white voters in rural places has made Middle Georgia an appealing stop on the campaign trail.

Residents of the Pleasant Hill neighborhood, where Walz knocked on doors on behalf of the Harris/Walz campaign, said they had no idea Walz was coming until the secret service motorcade pulled down the street.

Gloria and William Lowder, residents Walz spoke with, said they were surprised to see someone involved on a presidential ticket in their neighborhood.

William called Gloria while she was at church and told her the Harris/Walz campaign was coming. Gloria rushed home, worrying that something was wrong, only to find Walz on her front porch a short while later.

“That was exciting,” Gloria said. “I didn’t know what it was going to be like.”

Another voter who received a visit from Walz, 23-year-old Shay Johnson, voted for the first time this election. She was at home with her family when a Secret Service agent knocked on the door to tell her Walz was coming to ask a few questions about voting. She took a photo with Walz and was excited to tell her she had voted for Harris at the polling location in the Macon Mall.

“It’s my first time, so I want to give it a shot,” Johnson said.

Early voting turnout in Georgia is breaking records

During visits to Georgia, both the Harris and Trump campaigns have urged supporters to vote early.

Early voting opened on Oct. 15 and will close on Nov. 1. So far, Georgia has reported record breaking voter turnout, with more than 3.3 million votes having already been cast, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. The turnout is even beating voter turnout numbers from 2020, where convincing people to go to the polls was also a major goal.

Both Democrats and Republicans have focused on early voting and absentee ballots, which can allow voters to avoid long Election Day lines. While Democrats have been proponents of early voting and voting by mail in the past, encouraging these forms of voting is a big change for Trump, who has previously claimed widespread fraud among absentee and early votes during the 2020 race.

Experts, investigators and government officials have affirmed that there is no evidence for widespread fraud among absentee and early votes.

This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 6:00 AM.