Kamala Harris, Ivanka Trump making appeals to Georgia voters

Campaigning in Georgia on Monday, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris stressed a need to elect Democratic U.S. Senate candidates who will advance President-elect Joe Biden's nda. Ivanka Trump, meanwhile, warned that failing to reelect two Republican incumbents in next month's crucial ruff could erode her far's legislative achievements.

Telling a crowd in Columbus that “everything is at stake” in Jan. 5 contests , Harris said Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warck would advance Biden policy priorities such as increased funding for schools in low-income districts, a $15,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers, and policing reforms.

“We will need legislation to be passed,” Harris said. “We will need Jon and Raphael in United States Senate. se are things that are at stake.” Harris’ or planned stop was canceled due to a scheduled Senate vote on a coronavirus relief pack. Speaking ahead of Harris, Ossoff warned that Republicans would block Biden administration’s nda if y kept Senate control, stymying a progressive platform to raise minimum w, expand access to health care and invest in infrastructure.

“We have too much good work to do, Columbus, to be mired in gridlock and obstruction,” he said. Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and a senior White House adviser, stumped with Republican U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler on Monday outside a pub in Milton, a wealthy suburb about 30 miles (48 kilometers) rth of Atlanta.

Over crowd's shouts of “We love Trump!” and “Fight for Trump!” she implored voters to send Republicans back to Senate “to protect all that America stands for." She called ruff “most important congressional race in history,” and described Perdue and Loeffler as “last line of defense” against Democrats' nda and for her far in Congress.

“We need David and Kelly in Senate to keep our ecomy going, to keep delivering on president’s plans, and to keep our schools open,” she said, drawing cheers from audience. As she spoke, touting her far's record on unemployment and work on a COVID-19 vaccine, a truck pulling a massive “Trump 2020” sign circled street, drawing audience members to take videos and selfies.

Monday's appearances were part of a string of pre-ruff visits by high-profile surrogates of outgoing president and president-elect. Biden himself has already stumped in Georgia, and Vice President Mike Pence has made several visits. President Donald Trump said late Saturday that he would return Jan. 4 for an election-eve rally, just two days before Congress meets to count votes from Electoral College.

Trump has refused to accept results of his own election loss, alleging without evidence a conspiracy to throw election to Biden. In a tweet anuncing his Georgia plans, Trump continued to express anger at Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for certifying Biden's win over him by more than 11,000 votes. Both Perdue and Loeffler have avoided explicit public ackwledgement of Biden’s win while attacking Raffensperger.

Ahead of Ivanka Trump's remarks, Perdue, who is running against Ossoff, repeated his admonition to Georgians that “ eyes of world are on us right w.” Loeffler, who is being challenged by Warck, reiterated her campaign's assertion that pastor is a radical and socialist. “If we don’t vote, we won’t just lose; we’ll lose country," she said. Warck pushed back at his opponent's repeated digs, which he said hindered his attempts at “a substantive debate about people of Georgia.”

"My opponent is trying to reduce this race to kind of empty schoolyard insults made between children who aren’t thinking very carefully on a playground," he said. "I’m trying to have a debate, and she’s engd in name-calling. That’s all right. As we say in South, ‘Bless her heart.’”

(Im Credit: AP)