MACON — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is deploying to rural parts of Georgia to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president in the closing days of the race as he begins to prepare for his own reelection battle in 2026.
The first-term Democrat is set to lead a South Georgia tour for the Democratic nominee on Friday and Saturday to appeal to voters who backed Joe Biden in 2020 and are crucial to Harris’ chances of recapturing the state in November.
Those voters were also pivotal to Ossoff’s 2021 runoff victory over Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and could hold the key to the Democrat’s bid for a second term in two years.
The tour will take Ossoff to the Democratic stronghold of Albany as well as Tifton, Valdosta and Brunswick — competitive areas in conservative-leaning counties where the Harris campaign is trying to drive out the early vote.
Since his 2021 Senate runoff win, Ossoff has frequently visited smaller Georgia communities where Republicans generally thrive. He likes to say that he’s more focused on small-town sewer systems than the drama of cable news back-and-forth.
Ahead of the tour, Ossoff sharpened his attacks against former President Donald Trump. He said at an Atlanta rally Saturday that Trump’s “threats to turn the power of the federal government and the National Guard against his critics” make him unfit to serve.
Ossoff took a similar tack at a get-out-the vote rally Tuesday at a city park in Macon along the Ocmulgee River, where his message could provide a glimpse of his 2026 strategy.
He spoke of the possibility of another Trump administration as a moment for voters to unite across the aisle to defeat the former president. And he noted that some Republicans oppose him.
“Because they saw what he did after he lost the last time, the way he tried to bully election officials to overturn the election results, the way he raised a violent mob that sacked the United States Capitol,” Ossoff said in an interview.
“And his unfitness for office, his lack of integrity, is a deeper and more profound question for the nation than our party affiliation.”
