Sen. Raphael Warnock, who was elected in 2020, is fighting to win his first full, six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

Warnock’s message was echoed by local elected officials and faith leaders who also rallied with the crowd to encourage voter turnout.

“If you haven’t gotten your peach [voting sticker] yet, you need to go over there and get in the line,” said former Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson. “Between now and Tuesday, we’ve got to call all of our friends, our relatives, even those who we hate, and tell them they better vote.”

At an earlier event with faith leaders from Savannah, Warnock added another call to action.

“You can encourage your people to go and vote. That does not endanger your 501(c)3 at all,” Warnock said, referring to the tax-exempt status of churches. “Tell them you choose who to vote for, but please show up and vote… It’s the right thing to do for our democracy. I think it’s the right message for people of faith.

“And honestly,” Warnock added, “given the stark difference between me and my opponent, you don’t need to tell them who to vote for.”

But strong early voting numbers — as Warnock said at his events — is not necessarily a hint to the outcome of Tuesday night’s result.

After the first day of early voting, Walker’s campaign manager, Scott Paradise, tweeted that he believed this could be a good sign for his first-time candidate because of strong showings in Republican-leaning and rural counties.

As was the case in the 2020 election, Republicans in Georgia have been more likely to vote on Election Day and Democrats are more likely to vote early or by mail.