The power outages provided a chance for a little levity during Collins' 8 a.m. stop at a coffee shop in downtown Cartersville when he took a dig at his Republican rival, U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and her bombardment of the airwaves with tens of millions of dollars of political ads.

“Probably the best thing for Georgia voters — and many areas didn’t have power come back on — but maybe let’s have the TVs off for a little while,” Collins told roughly three-dozen supporters with a cup of black coffee in hand.

Collins is on the tail end of a 17-day “Trump Defender” tour to 60-plus stops.

“Believe me, my rear end feels it,” Collins joked to the crowd before launching into his stump speech.

Collins also took a shot at Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, who visited Georgia earlier this week for several socially distanced events, including one in Warm Springs that invoked the legacy of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

“I tell you, the folks who come out to events want to be a part of this administration. They’re not going to sit in hula hoops and hear someone talk about the past,” Collins said, referring to a way Democrats have kept supporters 6 feet apart at campaign events out of caution against the coronavirus.

6th District race hinges on turnout

Collins’ tour stopped next in suburban Atlanta, where he shared his platform with Karen Handel, the Republican nominee in the 6th Congressional District race. Both candidates emphasized voter turnout during their stump speeches in Alpharetta, imploring the roughly 50 people in attendance to vote early and then continue working to encourage others to cast ballots.

Handel said afterward that her campaign’s research showed that among the 6th District voters who have already cast ballots, there were 2,300 more Republicans than Democrats.

“So that’s encouraging trajectory in the right pace," she said. “And we will just be pedal to the metal all the way until 7 o’clock on Tuesday.”

Handel and her team have been knocking on doors throughout the district, which includes northern DeKalb and Fulton counties and east Cobb County. She said voters have been receptive to the in-person visits.

A runoff preview?

CARROLLTON — Could this be a glimpse of what’s to come?

At a campaign stop in Columbus, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock took a shot at U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s frequent boast that she’s the “100% pro-Trump senator.”

“You will never hear me say I’m 100% for the president. How are you 100% for anyone?" he said, as some in the crowd of 150 chuckled. “Every so often, I have an argument with myself.”

Polls show Warnock in prime position to land a spot in an expected Jan. 5 runoff. But Loeffler is in a neck-and-neck race with U.S. Rep. Doug Collins for the other spot.

After the stop, Warnock also joined other Democrats in celebrating President Donald Trump’s decision to stump in Georgia on Sunday as a sign of GOP peril in the state.

“We are witnessing the changing of the South, and Georgia’s the tip of the spear," Warnock said. "The fact that the president will be here the Sunday before the election means that he thinks he’s in trouble.”

Abrams raising cash for McBath

Stacey Abrams hosted a virtual fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath on Thursday. McBath, a Democrat, is in a tight race against the woman she unseated in 2018, former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel.

Abrams came with her usual passion, speaking about the importance of electing candidates who stand for progressive values, diversity and equality. And she said it was important for McBath supporters to keep working to turn out voters through Tuesday.

“We have got to believe that our mission doesn’t end until victory is won," Abrams said.

McBath praised Abrams as the party’s cheerleader and then later referred to her as “the next governor of Georgia."

“That was not an announcement," Abrams quipped in response.