SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – In a final push to rally voters before Election Day, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) visited his hometown Friday, where he received a warm welcome from dozens of Savannahians.
“I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been all over this state, but there’s nothing so special to me as standing on this very ground, literally, this very corner in my hood,” Warnock said.
The senator and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson addressed voters in a casual block party setting, but their plea was serious.
“I’m asking for you to join us. If you have not voted yet, you can go to the polls,” Johnson said to the crowd.
Warnock touched on keeping tax rates down, lowering the cost of prescription drugs and building sustainable infrastructure.
“I don’t think that working-class people, ordinary people, should have to choose between buying prescription drugs and buying food. These are the everyday concerns,” he said. “Kamala Harris has a to-do list to respond to the concerns of ordinary folks. Donald Trump has an enemies list.”
Some voters took it one step further.
“He’s a criminal. I think he should be locked up to tell you the truth. I don’t think he should get another chance to be president of the United States,” Dartanya Bentley, a Harris supporter, said.
“We don’t want to vote for anybody that leaves out any particular race, and, as we can see, that is being done,” Felicia Vereen, co-founder of Savannah Black Women Win, said.
When we asked people the number one reason they’re going to the polls this year, there was one issue that came up again and again.
“One of the main ones is being able to control what happens to our own bodies,” Vereen said.
Warnock drove the point home by bringing up Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died because of delayed abortion care.
“Freedom is on the line. A woman’s right to choose is on the line,” he said.
“There they were while they were anguishing over this political dilemma that was manufactured, she was languishing in a hospital bed,” he continued.
Savannah has been a focus of the Harris-Walz campaign. On Saturday, first lady Dr. Jill Biden is expected to visit to stump for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.