ATLANTA (AP) — Media icon Oprah Winfrey and Vice President Mike Pence will be dueling campaigners Thursday in the Georgia governor’s race. Meanwhile, she hopes to make one quick stop in Florida to help Andrew Gillum in his race to be Florida’s first black governor.
Winfrey will attend two forums with Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. Both events are in metro Atlanta.
Pence is scheduled to appear with Republican nominee Brian Kemp at three rallies around the state.
High-profile visits continue with former President Barack Obama coming Friday to Atlanta for Abrams and President Donald Trump campaigning Sunday for Kemp.
Polls suggest Abrams and Kemp are deadlocked in one of the hottest matchups of the midterm elections.
Abrams would be the first black female governor in U.S. history. Kemp is trying to prevent Democrats from establishing Georgia as a legitimate presidential battleground state.
More than 1.5 million Georgians already have cast ballots.
In the clearest sign of the national consequences of Florida’s races for governor and Congress, former President Barack Obama will join Democrats Andrew Gillum and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Friday in Miami for an appearance that will be sandwiched between visits to the state by President Donald Trump.
Obama, whose Miami stop was announced Monday, is scheduled to stump with the two top-of-ticket candidates and other Democrats at the Ice Palace film studios near Overtown only four days before the Nov. 6 election. Democrats are hoping to win back the Florida Governor’s Mansion for the first time in two decades, and need to keep Nelson’s seat in the Senate if they hope to also claw back Congress’ upper chamber
Obama’s appearance is part of his party’s get-out-the-vote effort, as are Trump’s. But the dueling visits set up a clash between the parties’ highest profile figures, with Trump in Fort Myers on Halloween with GOP gubernatorial nominee Ron DeSantis and Gov. Rick Scott, and in Pensacola on Saturday.
