Georgia’s slice of the dash toward the November elections is entering the final stretch. Last Tuesday marked the deadline to register to cast a ballot in Georgia on November 6. And on Tuesday, early voting begins in this state.

One of the most-closely watched races across Georgia — and the entire nation — is the contest to become Georgia’s next governor. Besides the expected attention here, the hard-fought, close race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp has drawn interest and earned headlines from far outside of Georgia.

Although The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Editorial Board stopped making partisan candidate endorsements on this page in 2009, we recognize that our readers remain keenly interested in politics and news and information that can help inform their decision-making process before voting. Providing balanced information about the candidates, their positions and the key issues remains a big part of our job.

Toward that end, we asked candidates Abrams and Kemp to offer their vision for Georgia centered on three broad areas readers have told us are particularly important: economic development, education and quality of life here.

Today, we present their viewpoints on these topics.