NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Cover photo by Namita Dogra Sudan.
Atlanta, GA, September 13, 2024: Last weekend, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, Mayor of Cincinnati Aftab Pureval, actor, and activist BD Wong, U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, U.S. Representative Wiley Nickel, and local leaders joined Team Harris-Walz and the Democratic Party of Georgia for a Weekend of Action to mobilize voters in the state around electing Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, and Democrats. Events included a canvass launch and roundtable in South Georgia with U.S. Representative Wiley Nickel, a Fulton County Democrats dinner with U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, and a canvass launch and small business block party in metro Atlanta to energize Georgia’s fast-growing AANHPI community.
More than 40,000 people have signed up to volunteer on the campaign in Georgia since Vice President Harris became the nominee.
“The whole nation has been accustomed to looking at Georgia. The people in this room did that. The choice in 58 days could not be clearer. The contrast could not be clearer,” said U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff. “On one hand, you have former President Trump, a man who has proven over and over again that he is fundamentally unfit for the highest office in the land. On the other hand Vice President Kamala Harris, a determined, prepared, capable prosecutor, U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States, who is ready to lead this nation toward the values that we in this room share. Johns Creek, are you ready to deliver the state of Georgia for Vice President Kamala Harris, the next President of the United States and elect Democrats up and down the ballot?”
“We have to win here. We have to turn out every single one of our AANHPI voters, get them fired up, get them registered and turn them out to the polls in November to defeat Donald Trump,” said Mayor of Cincinnati Aftab Pureval. “The doors that you knock, the phone calls that you make, the people that you talk to here in Fulton County are 10 times more important than most of the other states in the country. We are going to lead this country through for Vice President Harris.”
“I’m very proud to be a member of the AANHPI community. I am amazed and so moved and so excited by the turnout here today. Today is an incredible sign that we are understanding our worth, our value, and leveraging our power. Let’s do this thing. When we fight, we win. We love you, Georgia,” said actor and activist BD Wong.
“We’ve got less than 60 days left. Bringing down those margins is the part that we have to do, and if we don’t put in the work, we’re going to have four years of Donald Trump,” said U.S. Representative Wiley Nickel. “I don’t believe our democracy can handle it. We’re watching Georgia get us over the top, because when Georgia turns blue for Vice President Harris, she’s going to the White House.”
“I’m the son of South Vietnamese immigrants. My parents came here with the hope and dream that their children can achieve whatever they wanted to, so when I opened up this business in 2020 we were just weeks before the pandemic hit, that was not just the hard work of my wife and I, but the community who helped us get through COVID and and the Biden-Harris administration in supporting us,” said state Representative Long Tran. “Vice President Harris and other Democrats like Governor Walz are making it clear that small businesses are the backbone of our economy here in Georgia – while Donald Trump is only looking out for billionaires and corporations.”
“Without the work of the Biden-Harris administration, I would not have a job anymore, and we would not have an anesthesia practice in my hospital anymore,” said state Representative Dr. Michelle Au. “So I am eternally grateful to the work of Vice President Harris and her focus on small businesses and the importance of the middle class. Trump’s Project 2025 will gut the middle class, protect large corporations and billionaires, cutting taxes for them, while raising taxes on small businesses. We cannot afford this. We must send Vice President Harris to the White House and elect Democrats up and down the ballot in Georgia.”
“I am a business owner here in Georgia,” said small business owner Allen Kim. “During the pandemic, my business was damaged like so many others here in Georgia, because of Trump. Today, my business is back, thanks to the Biden-Harris administration. Vice President Harris will continue to fight for small businesses. Trump’s extreme Project 2025 plan will trigger a recession. Small businesses will close again here in Gwinnett. We won’t go back. We need to elect Vice President Harris and Democrats across Georgia.”
