Georgia gubernatorial candidates clash in debates as early voting starts
Candidates for governor in Georgia faced off Monday in a pair of party debates as early voting kicked off in the Peach State.
On the Republican stage at the Atlanta Press Club, billionaire Rick Jackson was put on defense as the crowded field of rivals traded jabs. In the Democrats’ showdown, candidates pitched plans to tackle affordability and taxes.
The race to replace term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is one of just a handful of toss-up gubernatorial contests this cycle. Early voting started Monday for primaries scheduled for May 19 that are set to cement a closely watched November match-up.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) at one point claimed his rivals “make up lies to attack” him with, an apparent nod to a reported link between Jackson and an anti-Jones group.
“I knew that I would be getting attacked. I just didn’t know that you could actually make up information about it and so forth. But you know, I’m not a politician. I know political attacks don’t really solve the problem,” Jackson said in rebuttal.
Jackson, a billionaire health executive, made a splash when he entered the race in February, shaking up a GOP field that had seemed on track to be a three-way race among Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Jones and state Attorney General Chris Carr.
President Trump had already endorsed Jones, and the president loomed over the Monday debate stage in the state he narrowly flipped in 2024.
Software engineer Tom Williams joked that he wanted to ask Jones and Jackson, “what happened to your bromance?” He went on to press Jackson about reports that he’d made contributions to “candidates that were anti-Trump,” asking “are you as phony a Trump supporter as you appear to be?”
Jackson acknowledged he was “late to the Trump train” but emphasized his support for the president.
Raffensperger, who drew Trump’s ire for refusing the president’s demands to “find” more votes during the 2020 presidential election, denied a question asking if he had made “a mistake” in 2020 and said he was “really excited” about Trump’s plans to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America.
Georgia National Guard Sgt. Ken Yasger accused his fellow candidates of “sucking up” or “tip-toeing around” the president.
“The White House does not wake up every day, whether it’s a Republican or Democrat … they don’t ask, ‘how can I make Georgians lives better?’” Yasger said.
Businessman Clark Dean and entrepreneur Gregg Kirkpatrick also took part in the debate.
With early voting underway, Jackson has a 6-point edge over Jones in primary polling averages compiled by Decision Desk HQ , with Raffensperger in third place. Other GOP contenders have struggled to break through in polling so far.
Former President Biden famously flipped Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, but Trump flipped it back last November.
Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams for the governor’s mansion in 2018 and again in 2022, a pair of closely watched contests that excited Democrats throughout the state.
This year, Democrats are hoping to replicate that energy as they search for their standout gubernatorial contender.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), who launched her bid last year , had the primary lead in a March poll from Emerson College Polling, up more than 20 points over former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
Raffensperger appeared to acknowledge her lead, saying in the GOP debate that “someone needs to take on” Bottoms.
On the Democratic stage, Duncan took heat over campaigning less than a year after he switched from the GOP . In an op-ed last summer, Duncan said the shift had been years in the making, and Trump ripped Duncan as a “total loser” for the move.
“Why do you feel like you’re entitled to run for governor as a Democrat?” Georgia state Rep. Derrick Jackson (D) asked.
“I certainly wouldn’t describe anything that I’m doing as entitled. I’m working as hard as everybody else is on this stage. My job is to not just earn somebody’s vote, it’s to earn their trust. And I certainly have gotten some issues wrong in the past, and I’m open and honest about that discussion,” Duncan said.
Georgia state Sen. Jason Esteves (D), pastor Olu Brown, former Georgia Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond and Democrat Amanda Duffy also took part.
Four of Georgia’s top offices — governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general — are open seats up for grabs this fall.
Meanwhile, Democrats are working to defend their Senate seat on the ballot amid the national fight for control of Congress.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who flipped his seat for Democrats back in 2021 after a tense runoff election, is now the only Democratic senator running for reelection in a state Trump won in 2024. He’s considered the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in the Senate this cycle.
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