Georgia is now ground zero for the battle for the balance of power in Washington, D.C., as control of the U.S. Senate now hinges on the outcome of the two Senate runoff races. With the Senate majority leadership just a couple seats away, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently declared, “Now we take Georgia, and then we change America.” And failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate and Democratic Party power player Stacey Abrams is more than willing to do her part to see that Schumer’s goal is realized.
Starting on Friday, Abrams will brief Hollywood agents, managers, publicists, and entertainment executives on how they can help elect Georgia U.S. Senate Democrat candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of the runoff elections in according to the Hollywood Reporter.
On January 5, Georgia will have its runoff elections between senator Kelly Loeffler (R) and candidate Raphael Warnockas (D), as well as senator David Perdue (R) and candidate Jon Ossoff (D).
Abrams’ organization Fair Fight is enlisting celebrities like Selena Gomez, Yara Shahidi, Issa Rae, Keke Palmer and Steph Curry for voting videos, as well as dumping millions of dollars to assist over a dozen organizations in their efforts ahead of the runoffs.
“I believe very much in the power of celebrity to cut through the noise of politics,” Abrams said last week.
Celebrities also now believe that they have a vested interest in the turning the state blue, as tax incentives have brought Hollywood productions from California to Georgia in recent years, bringing the celebrities and other staff to the traditionally red state.
“Being someone who worked in Georgia for two years while I shot [Netflix series] Insatiable, I’m really aware of how powerful and impactful the organizers are,” said actress and political activist Alyssa Milano.
New Georgia Project executive director Nse Ufot echoed those sentiments.
“We’ve been talking for quite a bit of time about how we are trying to change the culture of voting — what better way to do that than by partnering with culture workers, people who are literally responsible for helping us shift the narrative and tell better stories about ourselves,” said Ufot. “Our state is growing by leaps and bounds because of an influx of storytellers and people who support them. I think that that could be a secret weapon as we think about the new Georgia.”
LaTosha Brown, the co-founder of the Marxist political organization Black Voters Matter, echoed those sentiments as well, and claimed, “we’re not the headquarters for Southern white male racists” now that Hollywood has imposed itself.
“We’ve seen this transition — Georgia is the number one place for film productions, so this city has become more internationalized, I think one,” said Brown. “I think it’s been attractive to bringing diverse folks to the state.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler at @alana, and on Instagram.