Jackson plans statewide press tour with Kemp instead of debating Bottoms

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Jon Ossoff vows to press Mike Collins during second debate on Tuesday.
• Roy Barnes backs Tyler Harper’s reelection campaign.
• Austin Scott opposes Pete Hegseth’s plan for a public execution.

Lonely stage

Georgia’s candidates are about to get two days in the spotlight. One of the biggest names on the ballot is choosing his own stage.

The Atlanta Press Club opens its Loudermilk-Young Debate Series today, giving contenders in lower-profile races a chance to break through before three weeks of early voting begins Tuesday.

But today’s finale will feature Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and an empty podium representing Republican Rick Jackson, who declined the invitation to the 8 p.m. governor’s debate. That means Bottoms will have the stage to her self.

Jackson has some counterprogramming planned.

The healthcare billionaire will spend Monday on a statewide fly-around tour with Gov. Brian Kemp, holding press events in Atlanta, Macon, Columbus and Savannah before a 6 p.m. rally in Columbia County outside of Augusta.

That gives Jackson a day alongside the Republican he’s increasingly modeling his campaign after.

Jackson also skipped the Press Club debate against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the GOP runoff this summer and instead campaigned with Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. Jones had the spotlight to himself, too.

Bottoms and Jackson met last week in an Atlanta News First debate, their only scheduled face-to-face showdown of the general election.

The debates will also give candidates farther down the ballot a chance to make an impression.

Monday’s lineup starts at 1:30 p.m. with lieutenant governor contenders Republican Greg Dolezal and Democrat Josh McLaurin, followed by attorney general rivals Democrat Tanya Miller and Republican Brian Strickland, secretary of state candidates Republican Tim Fleming and Democrat Penny Brown Reynolds, and two Public Service Commission debates.

Tuesday brings candidates for school superintendent, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner and labor commissioner before the U.S. Senate debate between Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff closes out the series at 8 p.m.

For down-ticket candidates in a constant fight for attention, the next two days offer them a chance to appeal to voters in a different way. The debates will stream live through Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Press Club’s YouTube channel.

And the timing couldn’t be much better. Early voting opens Tuesday and runs through Oct. 30. The campaigns are moving from making their cases to banking votes.

Things to know

Good morning! The midterms are in 22 days. Early voting starts tomorrow. Here are three things to know for today:

• President Donald Trump has maligned absentee voting by mail. David Wickert took a look at public data to see how 38 candidates for Georgia’s federal and state offices have voted since 2020.
• A sewage backup has flooded parts of South Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center, Lautaro Grinspan reports. It leaves some U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees with restricted access to drinking water or showers, advocates say.
• Trump must cancel any remaining television commercials paid for with millions of dollars in taxpayer money to promote his political message, a federal judge ordered Sunday night.

Gauntlet thrown

Ossoff says he’s ready for round two with Collins.

Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, the Democrat accused Collins of ducking questions in their first matchup about his support for tariffs, the war in Iran and a range of other issues.

“Georgia voters deserve answers from a sitting member of Congress, Mike Collins, who wants to represent this state in the U.S. Senate, and Georgians did not get answers from Mike Collins last week,” Ossoff said during a campaign stop in Roswell on Sunday.

Then came the preview:

“You all can rest assured that on Tuesday, when I see him again on the debate stage, we will continue to press him to explain what he cannot explain, and to answer questions that he refuses to answer.”

Ethics fight

Does the State Ethics Commission have the power to overrule an administrative law judge? A Republican political group says no, and it’s going to court to plead its case.

The State Ethics Commission accused the Georgia Republican Assembly of violating campaign finance laws. In July, the case went before an administrative law judge, which mediates disputes between people and state agencies. The judge ruled the GRA did nothing wrong.

But the State Ethics Commission rejected that ruling and imposed a nearly $75,000 fine. Now the GRA says the commission went too far.

In a lawsuit filed last week, the GRA says the commission could appeal the administrative law judge’s ruling. But it “could not appoint itself an appellate tribunal.”

“The Commission cannot convert political appointment into judicial authority, and it cannot enlarge its own jurisdiction by rule,” the GRA’s lawyers wrote in the complaint.

The State Ethics Commission fined both the GRA and its political action committee for a total of nearly $150,000. But the lawsuit notes it only represents the GRA. The GRA has maintained that its PAC, which shut down last year, was a separate entity. The State Ethics Commission has said the GRA controlled the PAC.

Voting push

The sons and daughters of some of the nation’s most influential civil rights leaders are urging Georgians to head to the polls ahead of the start of early voters.

The Democratic Party of Georgia released a 30-second video this morning featuring Martin Luther King II and Bernice A. King, children of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King; Andrea Young, the daughter of Andrew Young and Jean Childs Young; and Al Vivian, son of C.T. Vivian and Octavia Vivian. They urge Georgians to cast their ballots early.

“We’re not waiting — neither should you,” they say in unison.

Bipartisan support

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper can claim some important bipartisan support.

He’s landed the endorsement of former Gov. Roy Barnes, the last Democrat to hold Georgia’s highest office.

“We may not see eye to eye on every issue, but Governor Barnes knows that when it comes to agriculture, I will always work in good faith with members of both parties to support Georgia’s #1 industry and the farm families who fuel its success,” he said on social media over the weekend.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell break down the key moments of the first U.S. Senate debate between Republican Mike Collins and Democrat Jon Ossoff. Plus, they answer listener questions about the Senate race, the governor’s race and the State Election Board.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Pushing back

Count U.S. Rep. Austin Scott among the Republicans criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s call to livestream the execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

The Tifton Republican supports Hasan’s death sentence. Broadcasting the execution is another matter.

“I absolutely support the sentence of death, but livestreaming executions is what jihadists do,” Scott wrote on X. “America is better than that.”

Cook investigation

Trump has restarted his effort to justify firing Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook, a Georgia native and the first Black woman to serve in this role.

Trump announced Friday that he had created a “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations, so far unproven, that she committed fraud by falsely stating information on mortgage applications.

The committee will hold a hearing on Nov. 5 at the White House, and Cook has been asked to testify. Her attorneys have said they are considering her attendance, The Associated Press reported.

Trump, who has tried to remake the Fed in hopes of controlling its decision-making on interest rates, has said he will fire Cook if the committee finds any wrongdoing. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Trump cannot force Cook out of her job without justification.

Today in Washington

• Trump will speak at a campaign rally for Republican candidates in Youngstown, Ohio.
• The House and Senate are out until after the midterm elections.

Down-ticket ads

Down-ticket Democrats are raising the ante.

Democrat Tanya Miller is keeping up her attack on Republican Brian Strickland’s experience in a new ad in Georgia’s attorney general race.

“Why is an intern running for attorney general? One word, money,” says the narrator.

It builds on Miller’s earlier ad targeting Strickland’s lack of prosecutorial experience, which featured him acknowledging he had been an intern and Miller responding: “Intern? Bless his heart.”

Meanwhile, Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Josh McLaurin has his own spot accusing Republican nominee Greg Dolezal of “obsessing over fake problems like Sharia law.”