As Republicans brace for a bruising runoff between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the state GOP is trying to ratchet up the pressure on Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.
At a press conference Wednesday hosted by the Georgia GOP, two of the party's top female leaders — House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones and state Sen. Renee Unterman — urged Abrams to release 10 years of her tax returns. Neither Republican candidate for governor has yet to do so.
The state Democratic Party countered with an event tied to the 94th birthday of Delta Air Lines. It was aimed at highlighting the "incompetence and extremism" of the Republican candidates, who both opposed a tax break for the airline after it cut ties with the National Rifle Association.
After largely sitting on the sidelines during a grueling primary that ended last week, the dueling events show how both state parties are beginning to leverage their resources as the November election nears.
The Republicans are seizing on an ethics complaint filed by a watchdog group questioning about $84,000 in reimbursements from Abrams' campaign committees over several years that lack details about how the money was spent.
Abrams also has disclosed that she owed more than $50,000 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, which she said she accrued in part by helping her parents pay their medical bills. She has said she's on a payment plan and tried to turn her debt into a selling point during the primary.
“If you can’t handle your own personal finances, if you cannot be transparent with those finances, how on Earth do you expect to handle a $26 billion budget?” Unterman said. “How do you handle the fiduciary responsible of taking care of Georgia’s citizens?”
In a statement, Abrams spokeswoman Priyanka Mantha said she would release tax returns after the GOP nominee is decided on July 24. She added that the GOP “hypocrisy on this issue would be laughable if it didn’t demonstrate how out of touch they are with the struggles of everyday families.”
The GOP called for Abrams to release her tax returns despite the fact that neither Cagle nor Kemp has released tax statements.
In his 2010 campaign, Republican Nathan Deal initially declined to make public his tax returns — though he eventually released some limited documents related to his filings. His opponent, former Gov. Roy Barnes, released more than 1,500 pages of documents outlining his finances.
Four years later, neither Deal nor Democrat Jason Carter released income tax returns — though one of Deal’s GOP opponents did. And Republican President Donald Trump refused to offer up his income tax returns, leading to frequent criticism on the campaign trail.
"How about a trade?" quipped state Sen. Jen Jordan, an Atlanta Democrat who noted that Trump still hadn't released his records. "Seems like a win-win to me."
Georgia GOP Chairman John Watson scoffed at the comparison.
“This is Georgia. This is what we do here,” he said. “And the citizens of Georgia are looking at their nominee to be the CEO.”
Democrats, gathered at a union headquarters in downtown Atlanta, each voiced support for Delta — and sharpened attacks on Cagle and Kemp for opposing a tax break on jet fuel that would have saved the airline about $40 million a year.
The incentive was swiftly removed from an overall tax-cut measure that easily passed the Legislature, though several prominent business leaders warned that the move could jeopardize Georgia’s quest for Amazon’s second headquarters and other economic development deals.
At Wednesday’s event, a parade of Democratic lawmakers and labor leaders professed support for Delta — and some pledged to revive the tax break next year.
"It's a trickle-down effect. It's going to affect so many families, so many lives, so many other institutions around the airport," said state Rep. Debra Bazemore, D-Riverdale. "We keep our promises, and we promise we will stand strong with Delta and when we go back in session, that we will do the right thing."
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