Harvard4Harris travels to Georgia, Maine for election campaign

Dozens of Harvard for Harris students spent the weekend campaigning in Georgia and Maine in the final days of the 2024 presidential election.

Thirty-five students affiliated with H4H and Harvard College Democrats took a four-hour bus ride to campaign in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, and 10 other H4H volunteers flew to Georgia. The groups returned on Monday morning after two full days of canvassing and speaking to more than 750 households over the weekend.

H4H Vice President Elizabeth M. Benecchi ’25, who organized the trip to Georgia, said “having a real conversation” with voters has an impact.

“I think canvassing is the absolute best way to get involved in the community,” Benecchi said. “We hosted a lot of phone banks. We ran text banks, which are great for talking to people on the phone, but it’s much easier to connect with voters face-to-face.”

During the trip to Georgia, students met with Representative Ted W. Lieu (D-Calif.) and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27, who took the trip to Georgia, said one of his favorite moments of the weekend was talking to Lieu.

“We’re exhausted and we go to this dinner with Ted Lieu, who invited us earlier in the day, and he sits down with us and we talk to him for at least a good half hour,” Ruiz, said the Crimson editor-in-chief. “It was an experience worth remembering.”

The trips to Georgia and Maine are part of larger, organized H4H efforts to promote swing states. Student volunteers have made trips to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and plan to return to Pennsylvania next weekend and to New Hampshire on Election Day.

Ethan C. Kelly ’25, co-president and founder of H4H, said one of the organization’s goals is to give students the opportunity to work on the presidential campaign.

“I think there is a misconception that you can’t really get involved in organizing a presidential campaign because we live in a blue state, but I just don’t think that’s the case,” Kelly said. “I think overall we have ways to reach different parts of the electorate and student groups on campus.”

Benecchi stated that returning to her home state of Georgia made the trip even more meaningful, and added that she and her family voted during the trip.

“Being able to say I went to elementary school right next door and knock on the door of someone I hope to elect to my own school board was something special,” she said.

Kelly said their efforts are ramping up as the election approaches.

“I think people are really hoping to maximize the influence they can have on the election this close to Election Day,” Kelly said.