Harris campaign motivates women in Tallahassee and involves them in voter outreach • Florida Phoenix
A crowd of about 300 people, mostly older white women, answered a call to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in Tallahassee on Sunday.
The campaign wasted no time trying to get attendees of the women’s organizing event at The Moon, a Tallahassee nightspot, to sign up for phone calls and canvassing for Harris and other Florida candidates. The event included training on apps and other software the campaign uses to call and contact voters.
Some of those events, such as a planned phone call called “Cat Ladies for Kamala” (which pokes fun at JD Vance’s labeling of Democratic leaders as “childless cat ladies”), are aimed at energizing women, who make up 68 percent of the more than 17,000 new volunteers in Florida since Harris announced her candidacy, said Jossie Barroso Garcia, the campaign’s North Florida press secretary.
The event emphasized protecting reproductive rights. There was a table where people could sign up to support the abortion rights amendment that is on the ballot this year. There were also sign-up forms to support the recreational marijuana amendment and the effort to expand Medicaid in 2026.
“We’re working closely with our local Democratic parties to make sure we have those volunteer shifts. We’re keeping that momentum going with all the people who have signed up,” said Melanie Williams, the Harris campaign’s black outreach director in Florida. “We need people like you to help us reach out to all those people, get them on a shift and get them engaged to get us through to November.”
Democrats face an uphill battle after the Republican Party managed to extend its lead over Democrats to over a million registered voters, as WUFT first reported.
“Men do not give up power”
Most of the attendees were white women, but cheers broke out when Democratic Senator Rosalind Osgood of Broward County spoke about Harris’ potential to become the first black and Asian president.
“Men, especially white men, are not going to give up their power to a black woman. I’m just being realistic, folks. But we know Joe Biden cares about the future of our country, and now we have an opportunity to really assert freedom,” Osgood said.
Tallahassee Democratic Rep. Allison Tant addressed the crowd as part of her campaign to retain her seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
“The excitement for this November election is palpable. You’re in this room on a Sunday afternoon, and you could be anywhere today, and you’re here to participate in the training that’s coming,” Tant said. “I’m one of the candidates on the bottom ballot this November, and I’m going to need your help.”
Tant is one of two Democrats from the Panhandle in the House of Representatives and will face political newcomer and Republican Spencer Brass.
“I have an opponent, and my opponent is supported by the Republican Party machine,” she said. “They’ve already spent $100,000 on television advertising. They’re going to send out some negative mailings, and they’re going to continue doing that during the November election. That’s why I’m canvassing today after this event.”
Gena Buonamici, a 59-year-old who has lived in Tallahassee for three decades, said she was willing to volunteer at the events announced Sunday.
“I didn’t really have any expectations. But I have to tell you, there are a hell of a lot more people here than I expected,” she told the Florida Phoenix after the event ended.
Another attendee, 53-year-old Charlotte Keaton, noted the lack of young people at the event and said she was glad she had brought her 19-year-old daughter.
“This is a group that I was particularly concerned about because people were either not paying attention or, I think, were just very disappointed in Biden,” Keaton said.
