Georgia Democrats back Abrams for governor; GOP headed for runoff

Evans, who pumped nearly $2 million of her own money into her campaign, conceded early Tuesday evening. Evans immediately struck a note of conciliation and unity by endorsing Abrams.

“The Democratic Party is trying to find a unified voice to rally against (President Donald) Trump,” Evans said. “We must do that.”

During the campaign, Evans had assailed Abrams for supporting a GOP-backed measure that cut awards to the HOPE scholarship. As the vote neared, Evans relentlessly tried to frame herself as the more ardent progressive.

Republicans went on the attack shortly after Abrams claimed her victory, focusing on the candidate’s debts totaling more than $200,000. They include about $54,000 owed to the Internal Revenue Service, and Abrams says she’s on a payment plan with the agency.

“I’ve tried to make sense of her personal and professional finances, and my head is spinning,” Georgia GOP chair John Watson said. “The only way for voters to get clarity on a growing list of ethical issues concerning her finances is to see her tax returns and payment history for her entire tenure in the state Legislature. There should be no ‘forgetting’ or ‘misfiling’ with the IRS.”

Abrams’ debts never became an issue during the Democratic contest, but observers predicted they would quickly become a point of attack in the general election. Abrams has tried to frame her struggles as evidence she understands the problems that Georgians face.

Cagle, too, faced his own attacks from his Republican rivals, who said he wasn’t true to his party’s core. They attempted to brand him as a career politician who didn’t fight vigorously enough for conservative values during three terms in Georgia’s No. 2 job, and they helped push the GOP race to the party’s flanks on issues such as gun rights and immigration.

He tried to undercut those arguments by supporting a “religious liberty” measure vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal, who cannot run for a third term. He also backed an expansion of gun rights, picked a fight with Decatur over immigration policies and spiked a tax break for Delta Air Lines after it waded into a gun control debate.

And yet his refusal to move further to the right on tax policy and social legislation will likely be fodder in the runoff, with Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp the apparent winner in a four-way race for the second spot. Kemp vowed to pass the nation’s strictest abortion laws and impose a spending cap on the state’s growing budget.

Kemp has angled for the same rural vote that powered Trump’s victory in Georgia, and he focused his final pitch on red-meat issues such as new crackdowns on illegal immigration and a tough-on-crime initiative aimed at gangs.

But he also faces vulnerabilities over his business record and blunders he oversaw that include the accidental disclosure in 2015 of Social Security numbers and other private information of more than 6 million voters to media outlets and political parties.

A Democratic divide

Each of the Democratic and Republican candidates tried to carve out a niche in a race that attracted more than $22 million in campaign contributions – and flooded the airwaves with more than $13 million in TV ads.

The Democrats largely abandoned centrist talk to appeal instead to left-leaning voters with a promise of implementing gun control, increasing financial aid for lower-income families and taking steps toward the decriminalization of marijuana.

That’s a stark contrast from the more moderate appeals made by a generation of Democratic candidates for governor, who often sought the National Rifle Association’s endorsement and touted fiscally conservative policies.

Abrams, however, appeared to move more toward the center in her victory speech, putting aside divisive issues such as gun control and turning to a more traditional theme, pledging to be the “state’s public education governor.”

“Together,” she said, “we will shape a future with a boundless belief in the historic investment of children who are at the very core of every decision we make.”

During the campaign, Abrams and Evans united around a host of issues, including expanding Medicaid, growing the medical marijuana program and continuing Deal’s criminal justice overhaul.

But they clashed on other issues, including how aggressively they oppose the NRA, how they would handle the state’s $26 billion budget and even how they would address Stone Mountain and other Civil War monuments.

The biggest policy divide, however, centered on the HOPE scholarship, which provides tuition aid to Georgia college students who maintain a “B” average.

Evans insisted Abrams betrayed her party by working with Republicans seeking cost-cutting moves to reduce the program’s awards in 2011. Abrams countered that more “seasoned” Democrats sided with her in that vote because they knew negotiating with the GOP would prevent deeper cuts.

Their differences also spilled over into a debate over party philosophy.

Evans, who is white, banked on a more conventional Democratic strategy of winning over independent voters and moderates, particularly suburban women, who have fled to the GOP. Abrams has staked her campaign on energizing left-leaning voters, including minorities who rarely cast ballots.

The two competed for support from an increasingly diverse Democratic electorate in a state party that’s generally avoided racial tension at the top of the ticket. In this race, though, several charged moments attracted national attention.

At a progressive conference in Atlanta last year, Abrams supporters shouted down Evans with chants of “support black women.” And Evans drew scorn by filming a video at Ebenezer Baptist Church that faded her face into the image of Martin Luther King Jr.

Once it was over, Evans said she bears no ill will toward Abrams.

“Campaigns are tough. She fought tough and so did we,” Evans said. “I’m very excited about turning Georgia blue.”

Guns and immigration

The Republican race featured what seemed like a constant effort by the candidates to outdo one another with soaring campaign promises to cut or eliminate taxes and new initiatives to expand gun rights or crack down on illegal immigration.

Former state Sen. Hunter Hill, a military veteran, vowed to eliminate the state income tax over seven years and make deep cuts to the state budget.

Clay Tippins, an executive for a consulting firm, emphasized boosting third-grade reading levels and expanding Georgia’s medical marijuana program.

And state Sen. Michael Williams made his loyalty to the president – he was the first state official to endorse Trump’s candidacy – a central theme of his bid to run as the most ardent conservative.

The race got its biggest jolt in February after Delta ended a discount program with the NRA, leading Cagle to orchestrate the demise of a lucrative tax break on jet fuel that would have benefited the Atlanta-based airline.

That was the deciding factor for Myra Busch, a Dunwoody retiree. “I wanted (Delta) to stay out of politics, and Cagle won that battle,” Busch said. “That’s the big reason I voted for him.”

After the Delta fracas, gun rights emerged more sharply as a dominant theme in the campaign.

The leading candidates backed a “constitutional carry” provision that would let gun owners conceal and carry handguns without a permit.

But guns were far from the only social conservative strain that factored into the competition. The candidates agreed to support “religious liberty” legislation like a measure that Deal vetoed, tussled over who would pass the staunchest abortion restrictions and tried to one-up each other on immigration policy.

The final stretch of the contest cast an even greater spotlight on immigration.

Cagle abruptly announced he would send Georgia National Guard troops to the U.S. Mexico border. Kemp boasted in an ad that he’d “round up criminal illegals” in his own pickup truck. And Williams embarked on a “deportation tour” with a gray-clad bus that attracted demonstrators at his stops.