GOP candidates for governor in Georgia clash over the mounds of cash pouring into the race

A pair of debates aimed at informing voters ahead of the May primary election was mostly tense and sometimes personal as frontrunners in both the Republican and Democratic primaries in the race for governor took the opportunity to sling attacks previously reserved for the airwaves.

Candidates from both parties honed in on promises aimed to address affordability concerns, which is a top issue for voters this year. But in the first and likely only time that all GOP candidates will share the debate stage, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Rick Jackson, the healthcare executive who upended the Republican primary as a late entrant, sparred over the millions of dollars that have been spent by both in attack ads aimed at the other.

Democrats were largely unified on their agenda to address affordability concerns through improving access to healthcare, largely by expanding Medicaid, as well as increasing access to affordable housing and higher-paying jobs. But one candidate, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, had to answer repeatedly for his past positions when he was an elected GOP state leader.

Early voting started Monday with election day set for May 19.

Republican ‘slugfest’ gets personal, in person

While some candidates spent millions on attack ads aimed at undecided voters or at chipping away at one another’s votes, other candidates were vocally turned off by the negative discourse that has shaped the Republican primary.

At point one, Attorney General Chris Carr said that “there’s one really rich guy and one guy’s rich daddy that are trying to buy your vote,” referring to Jackson and Jones, respectively.

Tom Williams, a Wilkinson County resident running for the GOP nomination, said that there are “two candidates going toe to toe, spending millions of dollars on negative ads against each other.” And Ken Yasger, an Army veteran and bartender in Tybee Island, said that people are “hurting, and they’re struggling (because) these attacks” in his closing statements as he spoke with his past struggle with mental health and alcohol use.

Maria Andrade, a Democratic strategist based in Atlanta, said on a Democratic Party of Georgia press call before the debate that Democrats welcome the attacks between Jones and Jackson, saying that the “unprecedented spending (in attack ads) is essentially doing our job for us.” The Jackson-Jones rivalry, Andrade said, is reaching a wide range of voters, not just primary voters.

“They have spent millions talking about how Burt Jones has abused public office to enrich himself and enrich his family. They have spent millions to tell Georgia voters how Rick Jackson is an out-of-touch billionaire who’s made his wealth off of state contracts and shady business deals. And this could not be a better scenario for us,” Andrade said.

Those lines of attacks were ratcheted up even more during Monday’s debate.

“After months of brutal Republican infighting, Georgians today got a front-row seat to the utter slugfest that has broken out between Burt Jones and Rick Jackson,” said Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson Jake Strickland.

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The Jones campaign released a new attack ad on Monday painting Jackson as a moderate who has “a new look” and “a new story” meant to appeal to conservative, MAGA voters.

“Tonight, Georgia voters will finally get to hear him answer for it in person. You can change the face, but you can’t erase the record,” said Kayla Lott, a spokesperson for the Jones campaign.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, however, took a different approach to the debate, choosing to instead sling attacks at the Democratic frontrunner Keisha Lance Bottoms, saying that if she wins the governor’s seat, Georgians “wouldn’t have safe streets.” After the debate, he confidently said “I’ll be the nominee for the Republican Party, and I’ll be running against Keisha Lance Bottoms.”

“I don’t have amnesia. I haven’t forgotten. When she was mayor, the city was literally on fire,” Raffensperger said.

TaNisha Cameron, spokesperson for the Bottoms campaign, said that Bottoms “delivered results,” such as pay raises for some first responders, and will continue to do so if elected governor.

“It’s telling that Republicans are spending their time attacking Keisha because she is the candidate in this race best positioned to be elected as the first Democratic governor for the first time this century,” Cameron said.

Democrats unified on agenda but divided on how to win

Bottoms also withstood attacks from a fellow Democrat seeking the party’s nomination. Former Sen. Jason Esteves asked Bottoms about the 2020 killing of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in Atlanta, saying after the debate that having Bottoms at the top of the ballot will be a “liability” for Democrats. Esteves pointed to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Turner’s parents against the city of Atlanta, Wendy’s International and several former city officials, including the former mayor.

“The risk is too great for us to have, especially in a year where we have to win the governor’s office,” Esteves said.

Duncan, who became a vocal critic of President Donald Trump after the 2020 election and who backed Kamala Harris for president and switched parties last fall, also endured attacks focused on his past as a former Republican. Duncan addressed his role in helping pass Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, saying that he “was wrong.” But the most pointed attack came from Democratic state Rep. Derrick Jackson from Tyrone who asked Duncan why he felt “entitled to run for governor as a Democrat?”

“There was a lot of pain that you created while you were in office during your four and a half years in the House, and your four years as a lieutenant governor,” Jackson said, adding that “as a father of four daughters and three sons, you have made this a disaster.”

Duncan said he didn’t feel entitled to the nomination but that “the reality is this: we’ve got to win.”

“Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing, and doing the right thing meant speaking at the DNC, writing opinion columns, standing up and admitting when I was wrong,” Duncan said.

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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: [email protected].

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