Bottoms and Ossoff draw more than 1,500 to a Cobb County rally as Georgia early voting surges

Georgia Democrats used the first weekend of early voting to rally their base. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff filled the Cobb Galleria Centre on Saturday night with more than 1,500 supporters. They urged people to vote now rather than wait for Election Day on Nov. 3.

Health care and costs take center stage

Both candidates spent most of their time on prices and health care. Bottoms is the Democratic nominee for governor. She told the crowd she wants to lower the cost of driving by cutting the state gas tax and ending Georgia's tax on car insurance premiums.

Ossoff talked about the future of his children and argued that no one in a rich country should lose a fight with illness because they cannot pay. He is the only Democratic senator seeking reelection in a state that voted Republican for president in 2024. His opponent is Rep. Mike Collins and Ossoff used the night to question Collins over his associations and background.

Bottoms also went after the Republican nominee for governor. She called out Rick Jackson by name and said every ballot cast sends a message that Georgians' voices will not be silenced. Jackson is a billionaire health care executive who has put more than $100 million of his own money into the race. If Bottoms wins she would become Georgia's first Black governor.

A day earlier President Donald Trump had campaigned in Dalton with Jackson and Collins and criticized both Democrats. Forecasters rate the governor race a toss-up.

Turnout keeps setting marks

Early voting began on Oct. 13 and runs through Oct. 30. More people voted on the first Tuesday than on the first day of early voting in the 2022 midterms. By 6 p.m. Saturday more than 796,000 voters had cast ballots in the first week. In Cobb County alone 59,810 people voted at 13 sites from Tuesday through Friday.

Cobb stays open this week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Saturday hours run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one site opens Sunday afternoon. Voters need a photo ID.

Bottoms said she is happy with the turnout so far but warned that getting close is not enough. "We gotta see it through the next 17 days," she said. Jamius Brooks, who attended the rally, said the night felt like a moment of empowerment for young women in the room and beyond it.

Another attendee, Denise Raynar, said the message of the night was simple. A vote that is not cast cannot make a difference. Both campaigns hope that thinking keeps lines long for the next two weeks.