Actor Jennifer Garner had a warning for the “Moms for Harris” crowd gathered at a tearoom in Tucson, Arizona: Be prepared for more Hollywood stars to visit your state in support of the upcoming November 5 election.
“Jessica Alba, Kerry Washington – my colleagues and friends – will be here tomorrow. We’re all just going to barnstorm you and drive you nuts,” Garner said with a smile.
“I’m sure everything is a nightmare. You don’t even want to turn on the TV,” Garner added, eliciting laughter from the audience. “That being said, it really is that important.”
The “Alias” star acknowledged the deluge of text messages, TV ads, canvassing, and other efforts in one of the seven battleground states that will determine whether Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump becomes the next US president.
Celebrity endorsers like Garner are part of a last-minute blitz to mobilize voters ahead of Election Day on November 5. A week after her Arizona stop, Garner campaigned for Vice President Harris in Pennsylvania and planned to visit Nevada.
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When stars campaign, political strategists often advise them to go to places where they have personal connections and to discuss issues they’ve been involved with. Garner, for instance, joined former policy adviser and Ambassador Susan Rice, sharing how her parents met in Arizona. As a board member for Save the Children, she emphasized Harris’ support for child tax credits and higher pay for child-care workers.
Julia Roberts also visited her home state of Georgia, where she was introduced by former state Representative Stacey Abrams.
Actor Jane Fonda, a climate change advocate, knocked on doors in Michigan to promote Harris and other “climate champions.” The Oscar winner and seasoned political activist stated she had never campaigned door-to-door for a president before.
“I’m doing everything I can,” Fonda told one potential voter. “We have to get them elected.”
While Hollywood is often seen as liberal, some stars are actively working to rally support for former President Trump. Dennis Quaid, who recently portrayed Republican icon Ronald Reagan in a film, spoke at a Trump rally in California.
“I’m here to tell you that it’s time to pick a side,” Quaid said to applause.
Other Trump supporters from the entertainment world include musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock, as well as wrestler Hulk Hogan, who spoke at this summer’s Republican National Convention.
Will Garner, Quaid, or any other movie star make a difference?
Celebrity appearances do amplify messages about voting, according to Christian Grose, a political science professor and academic director at the University of Southern California’s Schwarzenegger Institute.
“If a non-famous person knocks on a door, it affects only that voter. When a celebrity does, it generates media coverage and social media posts that reach beyond that home,” Grose explained.
However, whether this translates into higher turnout depends on the celebrity and the circumstances.
Megastars like Oprah Winfrey can make a significant impact. Winfrey’s 2007 endorsement of Barack Obama was credited with driving 1 million votes during the Democratic primary.
Similarly, pop megastar Taylor Swift stimulated thousands of new voter registrations with a nonpartisan call for people to register in 2023, according to the nonprofit group Vote.org.
This September, Swift went a step further by endorsing Harris through an Instagram post that has since garnered over 11 million likes.
While the Harris campaign welcomed Swift’s support, it may not be an unqualified blessing. Mark Harvey, author of *Celebrity Influence: Politics, Persuasion, and Issue-Based Advocacy*, published in 2018, noted some potential drawbacks.
Harvey and other researchers conducted a survey with 1,000 people in August, before Swift’s endorsement. Half were shown a photo of Swift with a generic message urging people to vote, while the other half saw the same image but with a message specifically urging votes for Democrats.
In the study, the singer proved most influential with undecided voters who were Swift fans. Those “Swifties” who saw the general message reported a high likelihood of going to the polls. However, the intent to vote declined among Swift fans who encountered the message advocating for Democratic votes.
“I think there are a lot of people who don’t want to mix their entertainment with their politics,” Harvey said, as an associate professor at the University of Saint Mary in Kansas.
Outside the elite sphere of the biggest celebrities, studies suggest that celebrity endorsements have “no effect to marginal effect” on turnout, Grose added.
Still, it’s possible that the presidential race, along with some congressional races, could be decided by hundreds or thousands of votes.
“I wouldn’t put it up there as the most critical part of the campaign,” Grose concluded, “but you certainly can mobilize people with enthusiasm and excitement and a little bit of Hollywood pizzazz showing up in places you wouldn’t expect.”
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