Campaign notebook: Loeffler rallies Black supporters, Ossoff hosts LGBTQ event

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler rallied some of her most prominent Black supporters on Wednesday at a Cobb County event that emphasized the Republican’s background as an executive with an Atlanta-based financial platform.

“When I left the private sector, I committed to shaking up the status quo, to being that fighter for every single Georgian, to provide for their families a better life for that economic opportunity that all Georgians deserve,” said Loeffler.

The event was held at the office of Osprey Management, the construction firm run by Kelvin and Janelle King, two of the state’s highest-profile Black Republicans, ahead of Jan. 5 runoffs for control of the U.S. Senate.

More than 1.9 million Georgians have already cast ballots in the runoffs, and Democrats are relying on a surge of Black votes to flip the two U.S. Senate seats. So far, state voting data shows at least 31% of the electorate is African-American – a rate that would outpace Black turnout in November.

Loeffler’s opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, is the pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church has traveled the state trying to re-energize his party’s base, just as Loeffler has appealed relentlessly to conservatives. She has intensely highlighted her role as a former executive with Intercontinental Exchange, the behemoth firm owned by her husband, Jeff Sprecher.

Among the crowd at Wednesday’s event was Leo Terrell, a Los Angeles attorney and pundit who talked of his history as a Democrat before brandishing a Loeffler cap with a flourish.

“This year I was fortunate to wake up and become a Trump Republican. Why? Because this country is falling into potentially moving left. That’s what President Trump has prevented,” said Terrell, who said Loeffler will prevent the country for veering toward a “left wing mentality.”

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Meanwhile, Jon Ossoff vowed to be an unflinching ally to the state’s LGBTQ community at a morning campaign event at the iconic Midtown lesbian bar My Sister’s Room. Ossoff said that “on day one as senator” he’d support the Equality Act, a bill that would codify federal civil rights protections for the LGBTQ community.

The Democratic-controlled House cleared the legislation last year – with Georgia’s delegation voting along strict party lines – but the proposal has languished at the doorstep of the Republican-led Senate.

The Democrat also told the roughly 50 supporters in attendance that he’d defend the Supreme Court’s landmark gay marriage ruling, fight for LGBTQ adoption rights and for people to serve openly in the military regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“I will defend you. I will defend our LGBTQ brothers and sisters with everything that I’ve got,” Ossoff said on a stage adorned with campaign signs, gay and lesbian pride flags and Black Lives Matter flag. “I will denounce attacks on communities that lack representation.”