All Eyes on Georgia: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore visits Atlanta in support of Ossoff and Lance Bottoms

EAST POINT, Ga. – Former longtime Georgia legislator Calvin Smyre, current Stockbridge Mayor Jayden Williams, and dozens of Democratic volunteers and supporters packed into a small campaign field office in East Point on Tuesday afternoon. The office, which belonged to both Senator Jon Ossoff’s and former Atlanta Mayor and current Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms’ campaigns, shares a plaza with a BP gas station and a braid shop at the intersection of Lakewood Avenue and Sylvan Road, SW.

The politicians and supporters were there to greet Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who was in town to show support for both Ossoff and Bottoms. The first Black governor in the history of the nearly 250-year-old Old Line State,

During a conversation with The Atlanta Voice hours before he arrived in East Point, Moore said this trip and others like it will be a part of “building a coalition” amongst the country’s governors. Moore, who is Vice Chair of the National Governors Association, is in the middle of his own reelection campaign after winning the Democratic primary. Asked what he believes it would say about America if both he were reelected and Bottoms were elected on Election Day in November, Moore told The Atlanta Voice, “I’m the only Black governor in the country right now, but that’s not a title that I want to hold on to for very long.” 

Though Georgia currently has two Democratic Senators, Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Peach State hasn’t had a Democratic governor since Roy Barnes was elected in November 1998. 

Moore went on to say that he isn’t just supporting Bottoms because of the history that she would make if elected as the first Black governor in Georgia’s history, but because “I think she would be an outstanding governor. She would come in and make history in Georgia, but she also understands that making history is not the assignment.”

He said their jobs as governors would not be just to make history, but to effect change and improve life for all citizens of their respective states. 

“I’m a believer that Keisha Lance Bottoms is going to be an important part of the governor’s collective,” Moore told The Atlanta Voice.  

Moore addressed the crowd, took photos, and shook hands with everyone who asked long after he was done speaking, and gagged with the media outside of the campaign office before leaving. 

“We are very clear about what we are facing right now. We are dealing with a federal administration that treats the Constitution like a suggestion box,” he said. 

Asking for a hug before he left, Beverly Rice, a local political activist and registered Democrat, said Bottoms’ chance of winning the gubernatorial election is good. Moore coming to town to advocate on her behalf couldn’t hurt either, she said. 

“I believe if we pull together, not just as a race, but as a people with integrity, values, and principles, she has a 100% chance of winning,” she said. “The governor is supposed to  do what’s best for everybody.” 

Moore says the entire country’s eyeballs are on Georgia. On Ossoff, he added, “We need his voice in Washington.” On Bottoms, he said, “We need Keisha’s voice in the Statehouse. It has never mattered more who the governor of Georgia is. 

Of Trump, Moore joked, “We are dealing with a federal administration that is interested in ballrooms, bombs, and Bitcoin.” 

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