The Andy Beshear-for-VP blitz continues as he speaks at Harris campaign rally in Georgia

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s whirlwind political weekend continued Sunday as he opened a campaign office for Vice President Kamala Harris in the heart of a Republican corner of Georgia.

Just hours after touting his accomplishments and trumpeting Harris’ candidacy in Des Moines, Beshear flew to Georgia and spoke to supporters of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.. In the back of a pickup truck in Forsyth County, the 46-year-old governor flashed his Appalachian roots and took repeated swipes at the Donald Trump-JD Vance ticket.

It was an event for Harris for President, part of a “Weekend of Action” that involves 170 campaign events around the state. He was helping open one-of-three Harris campaign offices in Forsyth County — 45 minutes outside of Atlanta.

Beshear is one of several Democrats being vetted to become Harris’ running mate. Other candidates under consideration including the governors of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Minnesota, as well as US Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona., the former astronaut and US Navy captain who flew combat missions during the Gulf War.

Despite the deep-red roots that run deep in Forsyth County, several in attendance who posted to social media made note of the large turnout to hear Beshear speak.

Attendance was reported in the hundreds, according to the Atlanta Constitution Journal. Forsyth County leans conservative, as former president Trump garnered 66% of the vote there in 2020.

But Georgia itself is a swing state. In the 2020 presidential election against Trump, Joe Biden, who stepped out of the race last week, won the state by about 12,000 votes.

Beshear emphasized the crowd on his personal social media account, calling them a “bunch of fired-up Georgia Democrats.”

“When we run on our values, we can bring Americans together all over the country and win,” Beshear wrote. “Every vote counts. Everybody matters.”

Hot out of the gate, Beshear highlighted his defeat over Daniel Cameron, the GOP former state attorney general who was endorsed by both Trump and US Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in the May 2024 election.

“I’m the guy who beat Mitch McConnell’s hand-picked candidate. I’m the guy who beat Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate,” Beshear said.

Beshear spent time diminishing the “conviction” of his potential vice presidential competition, Vance, while simultaneously referencing the 34 felony convictions and multiple bankruptcies of Trump. Since the announcement of Beshear’s standing in the VP sweepstakes, he has taken aim at Vance, publicly questioning the authenticity of his “Kentucky roots.”

Joining Beshear in Georgia Sunday was Hadley Duvall, a prominent Kentucky abortion rights advocate who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather and would have been unable to get an abortion if the state’s near-total ban on the procedure had been in place.

Duvall first appeared in a Beshear 2023 gubernatorial reelection ad recounting her story. Later, she did the same for the Biden campaign.

She spoke ahead of Beshear Sunday, and she she was “not going to sit this one out.”

Duvall went on to say when Trump, the Republican nominee, “brags about” abortion, it is personal to her.