At the height of the special election fervor to replace U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, Ga., Shawn Harris said he spoke to 200 people at Ringgold's historic train depot.
On Thursday night, around 23 people came to his town hall in the same location.
"It doesn't make a difference if I'm talking to five people or 5,000 people," Harris said at the event. Those listening could spread his platform to other prospective voters, Harris said.
The Democratic candidate is running against U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller, R-Lookout Mountain, Ga., in the November midterms after running uncontested in the Democratic primary.
This is the third time Fuller will face Harris. Harris placed first in March's open ballot election, while Fuller came in second to move to a runoff. A month later, Fuller beat Harris by 14% to fill Greene's vacant seat.
(READ MORE: In Dalton, Fuller talks affordability, midterm elections and work since being elected)
Harris, though, claimed the election was still a win for the Democratic movement. He previously ran against Greene in 2024 and lost to her by almost 30%. Two years later, Harris had closed the gap by half.
The Rockmart resident said his strategy is to push the entire Democratic ticket, from the governor's race to Sen. Jon Ossoff's reelection and the slate of local candidates contesting long-held Republican seats in the state legislature. Harris wants to keep building momentum for Democrats in the region and across the state, he said by phone after the event.
"This race is bigger than Shawn Harris," Harris said.
Harris invited two candidates running for seats in the state legislature to speak — Margaret Spear, running against state Rep. Mitchell Horner, R-Ringgold, to represent House District 3, which includes primarily Catoosa County, and Jack Zibluk, set for a rematch against state Sen. Lanny Thomas, R-Trion, in Senate District 53, which includes Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties as well as the northern section of Floyd County.
Spear, the chief of staff for a Chattanooga-based engineering firm, said for 18 years District 3 has not had a Democrat participate in an election. She decided to change that after a conversation with Harris that left her feeling inspired.
"For 18 years, Republicans have not had to prove why they should represent you," Spear said.
Increasing access to healthcare and transparency at the local level are priorities for Spear. Zibluk, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga journalism professor, said he wants to find common ground across the political spectrum to serve the region adequately.
When it was his turn, Harris talked about Fuller's commitment to the president rather than his constituents, the Iran war's effects on rising prices and increasing access to healthcare, jobs and housing.
During the question-and-answer portion of the town hall, one resident asked him about data centers. Harris said if elected, he would push for a one-year pause on data centers at the federal and state level to allow Congress and the state legislature to place guardrails to aid cities and counties in making decisions on such projects.
Harris said he will be visiting Ringgold in the coming weeks with Democratic candidate for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at iperez@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6710.