Post-debate ad war heats up between Bottoms and Jackson

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Democrats in Congress rally behind Head Start.
• Mobile billboard targets Mike Collins ahead of Senate debate.
• Georgia Democrats sharpen attacks on Rick Jackson.

Debate fallout

The debate for Georgia governor may be over, but the fight to define what happened on stage Tuesday night is just getting started.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson have spent the day since their first and only showdown trying to shape the narrative over what unfolded during their hourlong debate.

And depending on your algorithm, you can hardly open social media without seeing your favorite candidate either getting roasted or celebrated.

And now this new wrinkle: Bottoms rolled out a new video Thursday morning featuring former President Barack Obama touting her record and agenda.

“There is a lot at stake in this election, Georgia. Make your voice heard and vote for Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor,” Obama says.

She also released a video mocking Jackson for referring to a gas station as a “gas store.”

“Anyone who doesn’t know the price of gas shouldn’t be governor of Georgia,” she said.

Jackson, meanwhile, went on the offensive with a new one-minute ad revisiting the murder of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner near the burned-out Wendy’s restaurant that became a flashpoint during Bottoms’ tenure as Atlanta mayor.

“What Keisha Lance Bottoms did, there’s no excuse,” the narrator says.

A photo of the smiling child and video of her grieving mother, Charmaine Turner, are prominent. We reported Monday that Charmaine Turner has asked Jackson stop using her daughter’s photos and name. Attorneys for the Turner family plan to hold a news conference this morning to condemn the ad.

Things to know

Good morning! The midterms are in 26 days. Early voting starts Tuesday. Here are three things to know for today:

• Can Mike Collins change the U.S. Senate race? Greg Bluestein lists five things to watch in today’s debate on Atlanta News First.
• Data shows Atlanta’s violent crime surpassed other cities during the pandemic when Bottoms was mayor. Experts say the causes — and who is to blame — are complicated, Riley Bunch reports.
• Eight Black men paint starkly different pictures of Georgia’s midterm elections in the first of the AJC’s voter voices series heading into the midterms, Sophia Eppley reports.

Jackson and AI

Georgia Democrats this week launched a new line of attack on Jackson.

Citing Jackson’s testimony in tax litigation earlier this year, the Democrats highlighted Jackson Investment Group’s $2 million loan to an artificial intelligence company that tracks people’s location and can even predict when they’ll visit a particular business.

“It’s kind of scary to me because they can tell when you’re going to McDonald’s hours before you’re going to go,” Jackson testified in a deposition. “I don’t know how they do that, but they showed all these cars, and they track everybody where they’ve gone and what time and all that.”

Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey wondered why Jackson would invest in technology he deemed so “scary.” And he suggested Jackson has attempted to hide the investment by not detailing it on his personal financial disclosure. Jackson did disclose his interest in Jackson Investment Group.

“The next governor of this state is going to make very impactful decisions about who gets protected in this new age of AI and data centers,” Bailey said at a news conference on Monday.

“Are they going to be protecting the bottom line of AI billionaires and data center billionaires like Rick Jackson? Are they going to be protecting that bottom line — or are they going to be protecting the people of Georgia?”

Jackson’s campaign spokesman declined to comment. Jackson’s campaign has made its own demands that Bottoms disclose her client list from a stint as a consultant.

Head Start

Nearly every Democrat in Congress has signed onto an effort to convince the Trump administration not to weaken standards for Head Start, the federal early childhood education program.

Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who attended Head Start as a child, is among the leaders of the campaign. The lawmakers have sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressing their “strong opposition” to a proposed rule that eliminates many Head Start standards and regulations and tightens eligibility requirements.

“This proposed rule is a brazen attempt to dismantle Head Start without regard for the hundreds of thousands of young children and working-class families who depend on these programs and services every year,” the letter says.

Thirty-eight of the Senate’s 47 Democrats have signed onto the letter; U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has not. In the House, 152 of its 212 Democrats signed on. That includes four of Georgia’s five Democratic representatives, with U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson being the lone exception.

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy recap Tuesday night’s debate between Jackson and Bottoms, and look ahead to tonight’s showdown between Ossoff and Collins.

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.

Iran conflict

Previewing what is likely to be a line of attack against Collins during tonight’s U.S. Senate debate, the Democratic Party of Georgia will have a mobile billboard circling the venue with the message: “Collins: Demand Trump end the war in Iran.”

Not only is the ongoing conflict in Iran unpopular, gas and diesel prices have skyrocketed since the United States began operations there.

Ossoff has hammered Collins for supporting Trump and his decision to go into Iran, including at a canvassing event over the weekend. “Let me be very clear about this, that today I am challenging Mike Collins to see if, just for once in his life, he can do the right thing and stand up to Donald Trump,” Ossoff said. “I am challenging Mike Collins to join me in demanding an end to this war.”

Collins has supported Trump’s decision to attack Iran and limit its potential nuclear capabilities. “At the end of the day, he’ll make sure that we’re victorious in what we’re doing,” Collins said in August.

Today in Washington

• Trump will honor Elon Musk and other tech executives at a summit on innovation.
• The House and Senate are out until after the midterm elections.

Warnock’s picks

Warnock is rolling out a long list of state legislative endorsements, hoping to boost Democrats in their attempt to win a majority under the Gold Dome.

Warnock is backing 24 candidates for the state House and nine for the state Senate in some of the General Assembly’s most competitive races.

“This year, the Georgia state legislature failed to do anything to rein in private equity in housing, lower the cost of health care, or address the spread of data centers,” Warnock said. “If Georgians want things to change, they need to change the people they elect.”

In the state House, Warnock endorsed:

• Rahim Asani (District 108)
• Michelle Au (District 50)
• Danielle Bell (District 44)
• Lindsay DeFranco (District 47)
• Floyd Griffin (District 149)
• Suzanna Karatassos (District 120)
• Dumont Walker (District 46)
• Adam Cleveland (District 48)
• Renita A. Duncan (District 147)
• Tyrone A. Evans (District 128)
• Sara Fuchs (District 49)
• Beth Fuller (District 53)
• Eric Gisler (District 121)
• Tangie Herring (District 145)
• Harry James (District 154)
• Cynthia Starke-Jones (District 19)
• Michelle Kang (District 99)
• Mishael White (District 81)
• Farooq Mughal (District 105)
• Titus Nichols (District 34)
• Michelle Schreiner (District 45)
• Patty Stinson (District 150)
• Stephanie Omega Burgess (District 164)
• Ethan Wolfe (District 151)

In the Senate, Warnock is endorsing: