State Sen. Vincent Fort's supporters fanned out across the Netroots Nation conference to push his Atlanta mayoral bid. State Reps. Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans both landed major speaking roles at the four-day conference. And Jon Ossoff planned his most prominent appearance since meeting defeat in his run for Congress.
The conference, which drew nearly 3,000 liberal activists downtown to the Hyatt Regency, provided an early staging ground for Georgia Democrats either seeking elected office or mulling another run. And it provided each a chance to introduce themselves to a vast audience full of potential volunteers and donors.
Abrams, who is running for governor, has been a constant presence at the conference. The Atlanta legislator drew a standing ovation at the Thursday kickoff after a speech outlining how Democrats can win Georgia, and she joined “Iron Stache” Randy Bryce — the Democrat challenging House Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin — for a Friday evening happy hour.
Evans, Abrams’ Democratic primary opponent, was scheduled to speak early Saturday — just before U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts gives a keynote address.
And Ossoff was to headline a panel Saturday on midterm elections in the “resistance era,” one of the first public appearances he’s made since losing the most expensive U.S. House race in history in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
The title: “Leaving it all on the field.”
Netroots coverage
Follow news from the Netroots Nation as it happens at http://politics.blog.ajc.com/.
Also, see a story about liberals’ ambitions for winning in the South in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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