The Atlanta Press Club will host the first televised debate between Gov. Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams tonight in a pivotal moment in their rematch. Here’s what to watch.
- Close the gap. Behind by as much as 10 points in recent polls, Abrams is looking for ways to narrow the deficit by energizing liberal voters. To gain ground, she’s recently sharpened her stance on reparations (“I said Yes to reparations,”) and intensified her attacks on Kemp’s refusal to expand Medicaid and support for abortion restrictions.
- Stay the course. By contrast, Kemp will enter the debate trying to avoid making any waves. Expect him to favor well-worn attacks on Abrams as a celebrity candidate fueled by out-of-state donors. Even as he’s forced to defend conservative policies, he may also try to appeal to swing voters.
- Black support. Abrams has stepped up her efforts to energize Black voters — the most important Democratic constituency — as polls show she lags U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock with those voters. Kemp, meanwhile, is hoping to put her on the defensive by emphasizing his economic agenda.
- New attacks. In what could be a prelude to a debate angle, Abrams went on Fox News to blast Kemp for seeking investment from Chinese firms tied to its Communist government. And Kemp may highlight a report that the Fair Fight political organization Abrams founded is investigating whether funds from its PAC were “incorrectly paid to consultants.”
- Obama, Biden and Trump. Expect Kemp to tie Abrams to President Joe Biden and his sagging approval ratings every chance he gets — and for Abrams to defend the president. She may also swipe back, linking Kemp to former President Donald Trump and his own declining clout in Georgia. And let’s not forget a third ex-president, Barack Obama, who plans to visit Georgia on Oct. 28.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez / AJC / TNS
Credit: Miguel Martinez / AJC / TNS
IT’S ON. The three-week early voting period begins today across Georgia.
Visit the Georgia secretary of state website to find early voting locations in your county, along with what you’ll need to bring with you to vote.
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Credit: Brian Cahn / Zuma Press / TNS
Credit: Brian Cahn / Zuma Press / TNS
EMPTY SPACE. After Friday’s hotly anticipated debate between U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker in Savannah, Walker was a no-show at the Atlanta Press Club Senate debate in Atlanta on Sunday night.
Warnock, Libertarian Chase Oliver, and Walker’s empty lectern went at it for an hour instead. Warnock made hay of Walker’s absence, saying that “half of being a senator is showing up.” And as one of your Insiders reported, he sharpened his criticism of Walker’s history of violent behavior, something the senator avoided Friday night in Savannah.
“I have never been violent to anybody for any reason. I have spent my entire life as a citizen, as a pastor of Dr. King’s church steeped in the philosophy of nonviolence,” he said. “My opponent, on the other hand, has a well-documented history of violence and he hasn’t come clean about it.”
Oliver used his time to make the case for Libertarian policies, including limiting the United States role in foreign conflicts and ending qualified immunity for police officers.
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Credit: Screenshot via Atlanta Press Club Facebook page
Credit: Screenshot via Atlanta Press Club Facebook page
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES. There were five congressional debates on Sunday during the Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young series. But only three had both major party candidates participate.
As we predicted last week, U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath and David Scott were no-shows in their debates and were represented by empty lecterns instead. Here are the highlights of the other showdowns:
- U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop and Republican Chris West’s debate focused on the Democrat’s decades-long tenure in office and West’s pitch that 2nd District voters need a fresh voice.
- 6th District Republican Rich McCormick sparred with Democrat Bob Christian on government spending, abortion and ballot access issues.
- U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Marcus Flowers’ debate was tense from the start. Greene said she regrets nothing about the extreme views and conspiracy theories she’s promoted, while Flowers tried to make a case for himself beyond his “not MTG” candidacy.
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Credit: Emil Lippe / The New York Times
Credit: Emil Lippe / The New York Times
HANNITY TOWN HALL. Fox News personality — and former Atlanta radio man — Sean Hannity will be back in his old stomping grounds Monday when he hosts a town hall event for Herschel Walker in Acworth.
The program will be taped in front of a live audience this afternoon to air in Hannity’s prime time slot tonight at 9 p.m. GOP lieutenant governor nominee Burt Jones and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina will also make appearances.
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Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
BIDEN BACKUP. First lady Jill Biden traveled to Atlanta Friday to raise money for Stacey Abrams’ gubernatorial campaign — and criticize Gov. Brian Kemp in the process.
It was the most significant appearance yet from the Biden camp to boost Abrams’ campaign. Republicans have eagerly tied Abrams to the president, whose approval ratings remain below 40% in recent polls. But Abrams has embraced him nonetheless.
Jill Biden, in remarks that lasted about seven minutes, told the crowd gathered at an Inman Park home that Kemp’s opposition to Medicaid expansion and support for abortion limits are harmful.
“Atlanta, Stacy has been a tireless champion of your families. And we need her as your next governor,” Biden said.
Among the attendees: U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who chairs the state Democratic Party; and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Republicans mocked Biden’s timing, noting that the Atlanta event occurred the same night as the U.S. Senate debate in Savannah.
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FROM THE LEFT. Stacey Abrams got some out-of-state, liberal support on the eve of early voting when Washington U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, appeared at a “One Georgia concert” in Atlanta Sunday night.
The event featured singer-songwriters Lucy Dacus and Joy Oladokun, who performed for an audience of around 100, our colleague Anjali Huynh reports.
Jayapal described meeting Abrams as an immigration activist and being impressed with how “truly brilliant” Abrams was. She later held fundraisers and phone-banking efforts in Seattle for Abrams in 2018.
But this year, Jayapal said, “When I heard the race was getting closer in Georgia, for Stacey, and to make sure Sen. Warnock goes back, and to make sure we win our house, I was like, ‘I’m going to Georgia. Georgia is not just going to be on my mind. I’m going to be standing in Georgia and doing whatever I can.’” She also appeared with Abrams at a block party earlier Sunday.
Abrams in her remarks made appeals to young voters, focusing on college tuition, mental health care, reproductive health, and gun control.
“I need you to show up and show out,” she said.
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MCCARTHY MONEY. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is in Atlanta today to hold fundraisers for Chris West, the GOP nominee for the 2nd District, and U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde of the 9th.
It’s McCarthy’s second visit to Georgia this election cycle and the latest sign of the House GOP’s intensifying push to flip the 2nd, the southwest Georgia district that’s the most competitive House race on the ballot.
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Credit: Courtesy photos
Credit: Courtesy photos
COBB BATTLE. The races for governor and U.S. Senate may be getting the statewide attention, but a school board race in Cobb County is the contest people there can’t stop talking about.
The heated race pits Cobb School Board chairman David Chastain, a Republican, against Democratic challenger Catherine Pozniak. And as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Cassidy Alexander writes, accusations about incivility and campaign finance violations are flying. A snapshot:
Pozniak frequently takes to Twitter to call on Chastain to participate in a debate or candidate forum. Chastain has declined, accusing some of Pozniak's supporters of threatening his supporters. Chastain uses an email newsletter to communicate with his supporters. Cobb County employees have complained on social media that they're receiving the newsletter to their work accounts without having signed up.
A new ad from a political action committee associated with the Southern Poverty Law Center also accuses Chastain of misusing taxpayer funds in his role as board chair.
Meanwhile, the Cobb County Republican Party called on Pozniak to denounce a satirical Facebook page that uses Chastain's image.
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Credit: Natrice Miller / AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller / AJC
ON THE TRAIL:
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock will cast his vote in Atlanta on the first day of early voting. He’ll then head to get-out-the-vote events in Duluth and at Georgia State University.
- Jen Jordan, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, joins Atlanta rapper Yung Joc on his Streetz 94.5 morning show at 8 a.m. Jordan will then cast her vote in Sandy Springs and at some point celebrate her birthday, which is also today.
- U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop will tour a citrus farm in Ochlocknee and a cattle ranch in Thomasville today.
- U.S. Rep. Rick Allen is hosting a campaign event with the Candler County GOP this evening at the Metter Train Depot.
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Credit: John Spink / AJC
Credit: John Spink / AJC
VOTER GUIDE. With early voting starting today, the AJC Voter Guide is now available with information about candidates up and down the ticket.
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Credit: Jason Getz / AJC
Credit: Jason Getz / AJC
BENNETT FOR GOV? If you’re still not happy with your choices for governor, UGA alum Josh Weiss is making his case in the pages of the Red & Black that UGA quarterback Stetson Bennett is the alternative Georgia needs right now.
In a guest column for the student paper directed at UGA students and “alumni who still think they are students,” Weiss says #13 is uniquely qualified to run the 13th state admitted to the union.
“Stetson Flemming Bennett IV, also known as the Mailman, also known as the current quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs, would be here to answer all your Hail Marys for a candidate who would truly represent you,” Weiss writes.
The Bennett IV Georgia team can be found @bennettIVga.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
