Georgia Democrats take the stage — and play it safe. Here are the takeaways.
Three of the leading Democratic candidates for governor shared a stage Wednesday for a televised showdown on Nexstar stations, a key moment ahead of the May 19 primary.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond didn’t exactly trade blows.
Instead, they used the hourlong debate at WXIA’s Atlanta studios to define themselves and their platforms.
Another top contender, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, did not meet the network’s criteria to qualify for the debate.
There was no viral breakout moment. But the debate helped sharpen the candidates’ differences on key issues and their biggest political liabilities as the race enters a pivotal stretch.
Here are the takeaways:
A careful debate, not a brawl
For much of the night, the candidates played it safe.
Even when moderators Faith Jessie and Zach Merchant handed them openings for sharper contrasts, the three largely avoided direct confrontation.
Duncan offered only an implicit swipe at Bottoms on crime and leadership, while Thurmond took a few nudges at Duncan’s GOP past. Otherwise, all three stayed focused on their own records.
That caution reflected a broader campaign strategy of each candidate largely staying in their own lane. With Bottoms the clear front-runner, the others aimed for a second-place spot in a potential June runoff.
On one of their biggest opportunities yet to introduce themselves to a broader statewide audience, all three opted to stick to their own platforms rather than jump headlong into a new fight.
Each candidate faced a familiar vulnerability
The candidates have spent months fielding questions about their biggest vulnerabilities on the campaign trail. They faced them again Wednesday night, this time before perhaps their largest audience yet.
Challenged on why she did not seek a second term as Atlanta mayor, Bottoms said it was a decision that was “best for me personally and for my family.” And she forcefully rejected the suggestion that she had been eyeing a role in the Biden White House.
Thurmond, 73, was asked whether it is time for a new generation of Democratic leadership. He pivoted to his record, arguing that voters care less about age than whether a governor delivers. “It’s not about promises,” he said. “It’s performance.”
Duncan was also pressed over his Republican past and his role in advancing conservative priorities, including the anti-abortion law he now opposes. He returned to a familiar refrain, casting his switch as both a political evolution and his deep disgust with the GOP under President Donald Trump.
Unified front on culture-war issues
All three Democratic candidates said they would have vetoed the legislation banning transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports.
Bottoms said the decision should be left to athletic associations, not the government.
Thurmond called the measure a “red herring” designed to generate votes and said the state should not be used to “bully innocent children.”
And Duncan said he would have nixed the bill because it was “about simply picking a fight” rather than addressing affordability and pocketbook issues that matter to voters.
A three-way split on data centers
If there was one debate issue that showed a distinct policy clash, it was data centers.
Duncan stopped short of backing a moratorium and instead argued for stricter local control, more transparency and stronger permitting standards. He said communities should have the power to reject projects and suggested instead tighter local restrictions.
Bottoms went further, saying Georgia “moved too fast” in its rush to attract data centers and backing a moratorium on new development while the state reassesses the industry’s impact. She said the pause should bring together environmental experts, utility providers, economic development leaders and neighbors for a broader review.
Thurmond split the difference, backing local control over land-use decisions while arguing the state must do more to ensure data center operators shoulder the cost. He said companies benefiting from generous Georgia tax incentives should pay more to bolster infrastructure, protect groundwater and invest in training what he called the nation’s most AI-proficient workforce.
Atlanta vs. the rest of Georgia
All three leading candidates hail from metro Atlanta, a dynamic that surfaced when they were pressed on whether the field is too focused on the capital city.
Duncan argued that Georgia’s divides run deeper than party labels and require coalition-building across urban, rural and partisan lines. Bottoms made a point of traveling well beyond metro Atlanta to hear directly from voters beyond the city.
And Thurmond framed the question around performance, not promises. He pointed to his response to Hurricane Helene, when he partnered with local leaders to send 10 tractor-trailer loads of food to impacted areas.
Unity over repealing Georgia’s abortion limits. A divide over the path.
All three candidates pledged to repeal Georgia’s anti-abortion law. The more revealing divide was in how they framed the fight.
Duncan reminded voters he has experience being “behind enemy lines” to negotiate a repeal of the restrictions with Republicans. He said he would pursue both an executive order clarifying that doctors can practice medicine without fear of prosecution and a legislative push to repeal the law.
Bottoms framed the issue through Georgia’s maternal mortality crisis, particularly among Black women. She argued the law has worsened an already dire health care landscape and said the debate extends beyond abortion alone to miscarriages, emergency care and whether doctors fear prosecution for treating patients.
Thurmond called the law “horrendous” and “an embarrassment,” while arguing repeal alone cannot undo the damage already done. He said the broader fight is about access to health care and whether politicians should intervene in deeply personal medical decisions.
Where was Jason Esteves?
Atlanta’s NBC affiliate only allowed candidates to participate if they had at least 5% of support “in a professionally conducted, nonpartisan poll released within 120 days of the primary.”
The station said Esteves failed to reach that threshold. 11Alive pointed to a poll from Emerson College and Nexstar Media — the company that owns 11Alive — showing the former state senator at 3.7%, with more than 38% of voters still undecided. That survey was conducted between Feb. 28 and March 2.
A different poll from the end of March had Esteves at 14%. But that poll was commissioned by Penny Brown Reynolds, a Democratic candidate for secretary of state, so it didn’t meet the station’s nonpartisan standard.
Esteves’ aide Aida Ross said the decision “reflects their failure to serve Georgia’s voters and understand a rapidly-changing race.”
Esteves is the only major Democratic candidate to finance a large-scale TV buy, to the tune of roughly $1 million. On Wednesday, he held his own livestreamed event online.
He and other Democratic contenders will share the stage at another showdown later this month: the Atlanta Press Club debate on April 27.
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
