DNC’s Tom Perez Speaks to Empty Front-Row Seats in Georgia Campaign Rally

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez campaigned for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams Wednesday morning, attracting a crowd so small that front row seats were still available well into his remarks.

Amanda Coyne, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tweeted a photo from inside the campaign event held at the Plaza Fiesta mall in Atlanta. “DNC Chair Tom Perez is here on Buford Highway addressing Hispanic voters. Starting out in Spanish, he said his brother was born here and his father was stationed at Fort McPherson,” reported Coyne.

“The best way we can counter the politics of fear and division is to get out there and vote. Michelle Obama always said, ‘We they go low, we go high.’ I have a variant of that. When they go low, we go vote,” Perez told the sparse group of Democrats. And when we put hope on the ballot, we win.”

“And when we put fear on the ballot, we don’t do so hot. Let’s face it, fear won in 2016, but let’s also face it, hope is making a huge comeback,” he added.

The top Democrat official claimed party members are honored to take part in a “movement,” aimed at restoring the democratic process in the United States. “We’re proud to be a part of this movement to take back our democracy, because our healthcare is on the ballot, our education is on the ballot, our democracy is on the ballot,” he declared.

“And that is not being hyperbolic. America as we know it is on the ballot,” he warned.

Abrams, who aims to be the first-ever African-American governor, is running against Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Brian Kemp. Former President Barack Obama announced his endorsement of Abrams, praising her for “not running a campaign built on division or distraction.”

President Jimmy Carter has also endorsed Abrams. “Stacey Abrams is the right leader for our changing state who has consistently championed the American values we share: equality for all, excellent public schools for our children, and an economy where families from Plains to Plainville and Pooler have the opportunity to get ahead,” Carter said.

Abrams on Saturday called for a repeal of campus carry and limits, along with additional restrictions on public carry. She contended campus carry must be repealed because “no parent should have to worry about guns in their child’s dorm room,” — claiming the policy represents “responsible gun ownership.”