Former US president comes to Georgia to support Jon Ossoff for US Senate and Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor

Barack Obama, speaking at a Wednesday campaign rally in suburban Atlanta, offered a closing argument for Democrats in the final week of the midterm election campaign.

“These are not serious people,” he said of Donald Trump and the Republican party. “And we’re all paying the price for their lack of seriousness.”

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© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

Keisha Lance Bottoms, in her bid for Georgia governor, has faced pointed criticism of her leadership in Atlanta and disappointment in her decision to leave after one term.

© Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Georgia Democrats rallied with former President Barack Obama Wednesday night, at the same time President Donald Trump was in Ohio attempting to energize his base, as both parties began crystallizing their closing messages ahead of next week's midterm elections.

The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to challenge the integrity of elections and assert greater control over how they are conducted. Georgia has been at the center of that debate ever since Trump's false claims about the state's role in the 2020 election. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Liz Landers looks at how Georgia is working to restore confidence in the voting process.

Jackson's path differs from Donald Trump's, and the 72-year-old healthcare magnate and investor brings a vastly different persona to his first campaign. Unlike Trump, who was born to wealth, Jackson spent his early years bouncing through foster homes before launching his first company as a young man.

The theme park operator announced the extra safeguard less than two weeks after 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta died after being ejected from his seat on the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Hope, dread and the final stretch to Election Day.

© The New York Times