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Both sides pulling out big names to get people to the polls in Georgia

ATLANTA — If you didn’t believe Georgia is now at the center of the political universe, you only have to look at all the big names coming to the state to campaign for both sides.

The Secretary of State’s Office said Georgia has already seeing record early voting with nearly 300,000 people have voted early so far.

Experts told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that most voters have made up their minds, but the big names are coming here to make sure they actually go vote.

“Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda was in Forest Park Wednesday to encourage young people to go vote.

“I’m really excited and hopeful at seeing first of all, incredible early voting numbers,” Miranda told Elliot.

He’ll also campaign for Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock.

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He’s the latest in a long line of celebrities — both political and entertainment — in Georgia to do the exact same thing.

“There nobody more ready to go to the senate and change Georgia and America than Herschel Walker,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told a crowd at a Buckhead event for Warnock’s Republican challenger Herschel Walker on Tuesday.

Just last month, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley campaigned for Gov. Brian Kemp at The Varsity. We’ve also seen former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in Georgia campaigning for the governor.

This week, Orpah Winfrey announced she’ll hold a virtual rally for Democratic gubernatorial challenger Stacey Abrams and the Abrams campaign announced former President Barack Obama will come to Atlanta to rally for her.

“Georgia is ground zero when you talk about the political future of the United States,” veteran political consultant Fred Hicks said.

Hicks has worked on Republican and Democratic campaigns. He said these big names are not in Georgia to change voters’ minds, but to make sure those voters actually go vote.

“National surrogates serve one purpose and that’s to increase turnout with your base. And that’s what you’re seeing both parties do right now, whether you’re talking about the Senate race or the governor’s race,” Hicks said.

Hicks points out that it may be working with record early voting numbers this week.

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