Andy Beshear promotes Harris at GA campaign office opening

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s whirlwind political weekend continued Sunday when he opened a campaign office for Vice President Kamala Harris in the heart of a Republican corner of Georgia.

Just hours after touting his accomplishments and announcing Harris’ candidacy in Des Moines, Beshear flew to Georgia and met with supporters of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. In the back of a pickup truck in Forsyth County, the 46-year-old governor flashed his Appalachian roots and repeatedly lashed out at the Donald Trump-J.D. Vance ticket.

It was a Harris for President event, part of a “Weekend of Action” that includes 170 campaign events across the state. He helped open one of three Harris campaign offices in Forsyth County — 45 minutes outside Atlanta.

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Beshear is one of several Democrats being vetted to be Harris’ running mate. Other candidates being considered include the governors of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Minnesota, and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, the former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain who flew combat missions during the Gulf War.

Despite the deep red roots that run deep in Forsyth County, several attendees who posted on social media noted a large turnout to hear Beshear speak.

According to the Atlanta Constitution Journal, hundreds of people were reported in attendance. Forsyth County is conservative, as former President Trump won 66% of the vote there in 2020.

But Georgia itself is a swing state. In the 2020 presidential election against Trump, Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race last week, won the state by about 12,000 votes.

Beshear highlighted the crowd on his personal social media account, calling them a “group of enthusiastic Georgia Democrats.”

“When we stand on our values, we can bring Americans together across the country and win,” Beshear wrote. “Every vote counts. Everyone matters.”

Beshear, who immediately after the election started drew attention to his defeat by Daniel Cameron, the former Republican attorney general who was supported by both Trump and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in the May 2024 election.

“I am the man who defeated Mitch McConnell’s handpicked candidate. I am the man who defeated Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate,” Beshear said.

Beshear spent time downplaying the “conviction” of his potential vice presidential nominee, Vance, while simultaneously citing Trump’s 34 felony convictions and multiple bankruptcies. Since announcing his VP lottery spot, Beshear has taken aim at Vance and publicly questioned the authenticity of his “Kentucky roots.”

Also in Georgia on Sunday was Hadley Duvall, a leading abortion rights advocate from Kentucky. She was raped and impregnated by her stepfather and would not have been able to have an abortion if the state had banned the procedure almost entirely.

Duvall first appeared in a Beshear 2023 gubernatorial reelection ad telling her story. She later did the same for the Biden campaign.

She spoke before Beshear Sunday and said she “wasn’t going to skip this.”

Duvall went on to say that when Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, “brags about” abortion, it affects her personally.