Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson faced off Tuesday night in their only scheduled debate in Georgia’s gubernatorial race this fall, taking aim at economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump.
Public polls show Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and former Biden administration official, and Jackson, a billionaire health care executive, engaged in a tight race with four weeks until Election Day, with early voting beginning next week.
The hour-long, town hall-style debate was largely civil, with live and recorded questions from voters. Jackson frequently criticized his opponent for his record as mayor, while Bottoms attacked his praise of Trump.
“My opponent said he wants to be Trump’s favorite governor. He wants to be Trump with a Southern tone. He said there’s not a single policy he disagrees with Trump on,” Bottoms said in response to a question about the Trump administration’s federal funding cuts.
“I will stand up to Donald Trump when necessary. I am not running to become his favorite governor,” she continued.
Jackson responded, “I don’t owe anyone anything,” and said, “No one ever told me what to do.” »
He then invoked Brian Kemp, the popular term-limited governor of Georgia – the first of several times he has done so.
“I will stand up to anyone, just like Brian Kemp did. He works with both parties, both presidents, and he stands up when he disagrees,” Jackson said.
Trump endorsed Jackson’s rival, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, in the Republican gubernatorial primary. But Jackson still tried to claim the MAGA role and has a strong tendency to compare himself to the president. Since winning the nomination in June, he has backed away from that approach and sought to tie himself more closely to Kemp, who had also supported Jones.
Jackson repeatedly took shots at Bottoms during his tenure as mayor, accusing him of being responsible for regional inflation in the Atlanta area that he said was outpacing national inflation rates and pointing to higher crime rates in the city during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This is the kind of policy we can’t have running Georgia without making people feel safe going to work,” Jackson said. “Bad mayors do not make good governors. »
While the candidates were asked about housing and education, the event focused primarily on economic issues and affordability, with both candidates repeatedly pressed on how they could reduce costs. Both have focused heavily on tax breaks.
Bottoms highlighted his proposals to reduce or suspend state or local taxes on a range of products, like car insurance, groceries, hygiene products and diapers. Jackson reiterated his promise to cut income taxes, property taxes and taxes on some utilities.
Data centers and controversial traffic surveillance cameras, known as Flock cameras, have also taken center stage.
Regarding data centers, Bottoms reiterated his desire to implement a pause on new construction. Jackson said he would not approve new construction as governor without first gaining approval from the local community, establishing environmental standards and securing a commitment that local communities’ electric bills would be reduced.
But the two also clashed over the issue, with Bottoms accusing Jackson of investing in data centers and Jackson accusing him of approving their construction as mayor.
Bottoms also said she was not opposed to a moratorium on the installation of new Flock cameras, while Jackson said he was.
The issue of election security – which has loomed over Georgian politics for six years – was also raised.
Bottoms said she was “deeply concerned about Donald Trump’s rhetoric around our elections.”
However, when asked if he thought the U.S. Department of Justice should “oversee and get involved” in the state’s elections, Jackson again deferred to Kemp.
“I don’t think it’s necessary unless Governor Kemp thinks it is,” he said.
Jackson flooded the airwaves with ads, using tens of millions of dollars of his own money to outspend Bottoms 7 to 1 last week.
This disparity worried many Democrats, who saw this year as a prime opportunity to change the governorship for the first time in 16 years.
Helping Bottoms is the broader political environment in Georgia and nationally: Trump faces negative approval ratings and voter concerns about his administration’s handling of the economy.
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