Top Georgia Republicans diverge on Trump strategy

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Greg Dolezal revives an old quote in debate with Josh McLaurin.
• Donald Trump is returning to Georgia for a campaign rally.
• Jackson campaign will continue airing ad featuring Secoriea Turner.

Trump tightrope

It was the quietest pep talk we’ve seen from President Donald Trump in a while. And not because of the volume of his voice.

Trump’s Sunday night tele-rally with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins and Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson came without a media advisory or the usual fanfare.

But it offered a revealing glimpse of Jackson’s balancing act: accepting Trump’s help one night, then emphasizing his independence alongside Gov. Brian Kemp the very next day.

Trump showered both nominees with praise and previewed his Friday rally in Dalton, calling the duo “two of the greatest guys you’ll ever have.”

The Republican candidates struck different tones on the call. Collins introduced Trump as “the number one man at turning out the vote and the best president in my lifetime.”

Jackson offered a brief thank you before pivoting to attack Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Jackson is trying to hold Trump’s base while courting independents souring on the president. Collins is betting his campaign’s path depends on getting the faithful to the polls.

Republican strategist Tim Murtaugh, a Collins consultant, put it bluntly: “It’s a midterm election which means it’s a turnout election. No one turns out Republicans like Donald J. Trump. No one.”

Democrats are happy to tie them to Trump every chance they get.

Ahead of today’s U.S. Senate debate, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s campaign released a new video featuring a Georgia trucker named Richard who says he backed Trump in every election but now supports the Democratic incumbent.

It’s a pointed swipe at Collins, who has made his trucking business central to his political identity.

“I voted for Trump in every election. He sold us. He sold everybody,” the trucker says. “Senator Jon, he’s what Georgia needs. He’s listening to truck drivers like myself.”

Things to know

Good morning! The midterms are in 21 days. Early voting starts today. Here are three things to know:

• Trump is returning to Georgia on Friday for a campaign rally aimed at energizing the Republican ticket — a visit that will test GOP nominee Jackson’s efforts to chart a more independent course in the race for governor, writes Greg Bluestein.
• Catch up on the first day of Atlanta Press Club debates. Be sure to follow along for updates from today’s debates, which start at 2:30 p.m. and end with another U.S. Senate debate at 8 p.m.
• The state is advertising that hundreds of centers, like Oxford Academy Preschool, are quality daycares despite the fact that kids were seriously harmed or put at risk at those places, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found.

Way back

The lieutenant governor’s race features two state senators that go way back. During Monday’s debate, Republican Greg Dolezal reached deep into that history looking for an edge against Democrat Josh McLaurin.

In 2019, a state Supreme Court ruling ended the practice of automatic lifetime ankle monitoring for convicted sex offenders. The state Legislature considered a bill in 2020 that would have put that monitoring back in place.

An amendment to the bill would have also required these sex offenders to place signs in their yard every Halloween that say no candy, treats or trick-or-treating at this residence.

McLaurin opposed that amendment, saying “it’s just downright humiliating to have to post that at your house.”

“You’ve got to help me out with this one, Joshua. What were you thinking?” Dolezal asked McLaurin during Monday’s Atlanta Press Club debate.

McLaurin said he was a lawyer, and lawyers have to sometimes take unpopular positions because “the rule of law is what matters.” He noted the courts had already ruled such signs were illegal.

“You can appeal to your base all day,” he said. “At the end of the day, taxpayers have to pay the bill when we do unconstitutional things.”

Dolezal said the whole episode makes it clear that McLaurin is “soft on crime.”

Ad watch

Jackson said he will continue airing a campaign ad featuring the 8-year-old girl fatally shot in Atlanta in 2020, despite repeated demands from her family to take it down.

“I am basically telling you that this is a part of history, and that people need to remember what the consequences are. That’s why we keep running it,” Jackson said Monday during a campaign stop in Atlanta. He added that Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms owes the family an apology.

The ad features images of Secoriea Turner and audio from her mother’s anguished 911 call. Her family has accused Jackson of politicizing their grief to attack Bottoms, who was Atlanta’s mayor when the child was killed near the burned-out Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks had been shot by police.

Kemp, who campaigned with Jackson on Monday, backed Jackson’s criticism of Bottoms, describing her response to the unrest as a failure of leadership.

“It shows a lack of leadership, and the truth here, unfortunately, is it hurts dramatically for that family,” Kemp said. “What we want to do is make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. And it won’t if Rick Jackson is your governor.”

Listen up

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy press Democrat Tanya Miller and Republican Brian Strickland on how each would handle the job of attorney general should they win in November.

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.

Mobile message

Ahead of the second debate today between Ossoff and Collins, the Democratic Party of Georgia will have another mobile billboard highlighting multiple scandals involving Collins’ staff and family.

The billboard will read: “Collins: Surrounded by White Nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and Klan Associates.”

It’s likely a preview of what we’ll hear later from Ossoff, who spent much of the pair’s first debate pressing Collins to offer more details on the Congressional ethics investigation initiated against him and his former chief of staff, as well as other reporting linking former Collins’ staffers to white nationalist groups.

Collins has repeatedly said he condemns racism and antisemitism. Asked about his staff scandals during the first debate, Collins responded, “When I had things happen, I’m a businessman. I fired them. I got rid of them. Don’t need them.”

Today in Washington

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

Round Two

Today is the second day of the Loudermilk-Young debate series sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Today’s debates include candidates for insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner and state school superintendent.

The marquis event will be the second of two debates between Ossoff and Collins.

Stay with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for real-time updates in races up and down the ballot. You can livestream the face-offs on gpb.org.