Actor Will Ferrell met with Kennesaw State students and community residents on Friday, Oct. 26, to advocate for Stacy Abrams, democratic candidate in Georgia’s governor race.
Ferrell made a public appearance at the Varsity’s Kennesaw location during lunchtime wearing a Stacy Abrams campaign shirt.
“The voter turnout is so important, you guys, and early voting,” Ferrell said to the crowd at The Varsity. “Voter turnout, especially in the age group of 18 to 35, young voters, you are the key, you will win the elections.”
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Ferrell said many of the residents asked why he came from Los Angelos to Georgia to campaign for Abrams. Ferrell explained that he had been invited to a dinner where Abrams gave a speech, and he said “we were blown away” by Abrams. He also said he has acted in and produced several projects in Georgia in the past.
After his speech about Abrams, Ferrell posed for photos with customers.
Before making the appearance at The Varsity, Ferrell also visited with KSU students on the Kennesaw campus.
“We had him on campus for about 30 minutes, he shot a series of commercials trying to get the students to volunteer on campus,” President of the Young Democrats at KSU Jesus Rubio told the MDJ.
KSU electrical engineering major Bradley Clayton spoke with Ferrell on campus, sporting a Buddy the Elf costume from Ferrell’s film “Elf.”
“I was Buddy the Elf last night at a party, so I decided to jump in the suit and come over and meet Will Ferrell,” Clayton said. “Everything else was plus — it was cool to hear. He asked me if I’ve canvassed at all, and I said no, so I guess I need to do that. I told him I would do that. It’s like the best day ever.”
Clayton said he is still deciding who he will support in the governor’s election, but he is excited to vote on election day on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
“We were speaking with him and we hosted a series of different livestreams on Facebook and Instagram,” Rubio said. “But it got out of hand, students found out very soon so mobs started creating on campus around him.”
The MDJ reported that a similar situation occurred at The Varsity later that same day, forcing the actor to leave minutes after making his remarks about voting day.
The 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 6 concurrently with other statewide and local elections to elect the next Governor of Georgia. The Democratic nominee for Governor is Stacey Abrams, and the Republican nominee for Governor is Brian Kemp.
Students who are registered to vote and need to check the status of their voter registration or get a sample ballot to know who their candidates are can visit mvp.sos.ga.gov. If a student has not yet registered to vote or needs to request an absentee ballot, they can visit kennesaw.turbovote.org.
