Sen. Cory Booker campaigns for Kamala Harris in Nevada

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said the most important role he can play in campaigning for Democrats in Nevada and across the country is “connecting with the foot soldiers for justice.”

And at the Nevada Democrats’ North Las Vegas office on Saturday, Booker met with campaign volunteers for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign to do just that, hoping to ignite a push that could decide multiple elections.

The event was one part of a new, energized pivot by Democrat campaigners to shift their messaging from President Joe Biden’s campaign to Harris. Biden dropped out of the race Sunday. 

Booker started the event by commending Biden for ending his reelection bid in what Booker called a “George Washington-like moment” that allowed Harris to take up her campaign.

“When he showed that kind of grace and that kind of patriotism, the person he handed the baton to is a history maker, a glass ceiling breaker, a name taker,” Booker said during his speech.

Booker’s mother lives in Las Vegas, and the senator espoused his personal connection to the state and Vice President Harris, who Booker said he asked her to run for Senate years ago. Booker highlighted their relationship in the Senate, passing legislation and both working as the first of Black members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The room was filled with dozens of volunteers from across the North Las Vegas region, all ready to fan out over the weekend and canvas for Harris’ campaign. Booker said he has been surprised with how Harris’ campaign has especially resonated with young voters, who he said have moved from passive support to active excitement.

“I underestimated the kind of energy explosion you would see from people under 35 by who are engaged in record numbers,” Booker said. “I’ve got family members out and telling me that, ‘I was going to vote for Biden, but now I'm going to work for Kamala Harris.’”

An Axios poll Thursday found Harris is favored much more heavily among younger voters than former president Donald Trump, even more so than Biden. Among 18-to-34-year-olds, Harris holds a 60% favorability over Trump’s 40% in a race between the two, a significant lead over Biden’s 53% to 47% split.

Twenty-year-old Dylen Richmond is one such voter, having joined the campaign as a volunteer only hours before President Joe Biden announced he would step away from seeking reelection. However, for Richmond, the candidate running was less important than the threat of a Trump presidency — and Project 2025.

Project 2025 is a large-scale plan created by conservative think tank Heritage Foundation designed to provide actionable policy guidance for Trump’s potential second term. The former president has since attempted to distance himself from the plan with little success. 

Voters across the country have express concern for what many consider to be its radical agenda, and Democrats have shifted much of their campaign messaging to underscore that fear and the project’s connections to Republican opponents.

Richmond said Project 2025’s suggestion to dismantle the Department of Education and promote privatized schooling is chief among his concerns about the plan, and that it speaks to potentially greater issues. 

“When you look back into the history of private schools, specifically in the south, they were used to as a way to segregate a lot of Black people from public schools, so I don’t want a repeat of something like that,” Richmond said.

With just over 100 days until the election, Booker encouraged volunteers to dig into their communities and reached out to people that may have previously been unengaged with politics.

“Between now, and November for 100 days, what you all do can determine which way this election goes,” Booker said. “I'm talking all about Kamala, I’m talking all about her, but there's much more on the line.”

[email protected] / 702-990-8926 / @a_y_denrunnels