Candidates in the Georgia governor's race took to the stage Monday night in their first televised gubernatorial debate this election year.
Early questions centered on everything from voting rights to cannabis to polling numbers in one of the most closely-watched gubernatorial races in the country.
Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams faces a rematch against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp after losing to the former attorney general in a bid for the governor's seat in 2018. Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel will also participate in Monday's debate.
The debate is being held at the Atlanta Press Club on the first day of Georgia's early voting period.
Kemp, who is vying for his second term, defeated Abrams in 2018. He defeated Trump-backed challenger former U.S. senator David Perdue in this year's Republican primary after the former president unleashed insults and personal attacks against him.
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Abrams rose to the national spotlight within the Democratic party for her voting outreach efforts and for helping turn the battleground state blue in the 2020 presidential election. A win against Kemp would make her the country's first Black female governor.
The candidates are expected to focus on cost of living, voting rights, abortion and guns during the debate.
Midterms:In the tight race for Georgia governor, Black men emerge as Stacey Abrams' key voters
Abrams aims to invest Georgia’s $6.6 million surplus in education
The Democrat said she wants to use the state’s $6.6 million surplus it has after it “pays every bill” toward giving teachers an $11,000 pay raise and increasing pre-school slots.
-- Sarah Elbeshbishi
Abrams talks reaching across the aisle
Abrams, who served in the state legislature for 11 years, was asked about how she plans to advance her policies with a highly likely state legislature in Republican control.
Abrams said she does not believe there is staunch Republican opposition and emphasized how she worked across the aisle every day in the state legislature to get things done and find solutions with her Republican colleagues.
“We need a governor who can do the math, but also do the morality of making sure we take care of every single Georgian,” she said.
-- Rachel Looker
Kemp talks education
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp touted his record on education, particularly the $5,000 bonus he gave to public school teachers.
The bonus was paid for by the state budget surplus.
He is also pushing to spend $65 million to address pandemic learning loss.
-- Candy Woodall
Abrams asks Hazel about the Chinese Communist Party
Abrams asked Hazel whether he would be concerned with the national security implications with members of the Chinese Communist Party purchasing Georgia land with support of the state.
Hazel told Abrams that Libertarians believe that “we own our property, and the state can’t take it away from you and can’t sell it.”
Abrams says that the state working with the Chinese Communist Party should be a concern.
-- Sarah Elbeshbishi
Abrams responds to 1992 flag burning
In the first question of the night, Stacy Abrams was asked about a 1992 protest she participated in where the state flag was burned.
The state flag, at the time, included the Confederate symbol.
As a college freshman 26 years ago, Abrams said she was “deeply disturbed by the racial divisiveness” the Confederate symbol represented. she said.
“I took an action of peaceful protest. I said that was wrong, and 10 years later my opponent Brian Kemp voted to remove that symbol,” Abrams said.
-- Candy Woodall
Abrams questions Kemp on gap for minority-owned businesses
Abrams questioned Kemp on how minorities only generate a fraction of business in Georgia and how he plans to decrease and address the racial equity gap for minority-owned businesses.
Kemp responded that the first part of his plan was keeping Georgia open for business and pushed for students to be back in classrooms, adding that working class Americans and minority groups are unable to work if their children are not in the classroom.
-- Rachel Looker
Kemp highlights his efforts to provide Georgians’ health care
Kemp said hospitals are being built and instead of “complaining about it” he worked with Georgia counties and Democrats to ensure state resources provided Georgian access to the health care necessary.
“I am committed to continuing to do that in the future,” Kemp said.
-- Sarah Elbeshbishi
Hazel said running as a libertarian is returning to his roots
Hazel said he came back to his roots when he determined to run as a libertarian.
“If people were really looking for something to change then you'd vote libertarian,” he said.
-- Rachel Looker
Kemp tells Georgia voters: “I have been doing exactly what I told ‘em”
Kemp took a moment to remind Georgians that he’s “been doing exactly what I told ‘em I would do when I was campaigning for governor” during his rebuttal time after Hazel spoke on the legalization of cannabis.
The governor spoke on law enforcement’s efforts of “drug busts” by gangs and street cartels before an interjection by Hazel, saying cannabis is a “plant.”
-- Sarah Elbeshbishi
Abrams says she will accept election results
Abrams was asked if she would accept the results of the election this year.
She responded by saying she acknowledged Kemp won the election in 2018 and emphasized the challenges voters faced in the past election.
Abrams said she will stand up for the right to vote as governor and will acknowledge the outcome of elections.
-- Rachel Looker
When is the debate?
The debate will air live at 7 p.m. E.T.
Where can you watch it?
The debate will be streamed on Georgia Public Broadcasting's website and The Atlanta Press Club Facebook page.
'Voting is too dumb':Roe is gone, student debt is piling up and young people are mad. But will they vote?
What are the key issues?
Both candidates are expected to tackle key issues in the battleground state related to voting, abortion, gun laws and the high cost of living.
Abrams opposes a number of laws Kemp has signed into law since becoming governor.
Kemp signed two bills that Abrams has promised to repeal if elected-- one preventing abortions after six weeks and the other allowing concealed firearms without permits,
Kemp also signed a controversial law related to voting procedures after the 2020 presidential election. Abrams said the law was an attempt to "suppress the vote and seize electoral power."
In recent polling, Georgia voters listed the cost of living as a top issue. Abrams has released a strategy that addresses housing costs, tax incentives for affordable housing and allocating more funding to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Kemp's plan focuses on tax relief to reduce the overall cost of living.
More:Brian Kemp, Stacey Abrams take the stage for debate Monday in Georgia governor's race
-- Rachel Looker
Where do the candidates stand in recent polling?
Polling shows Kemp is leading in the two candidates' rematch.
A recent Atlanta-Journal Constitution/Georgia News Collaborative poll found Kemp is ahead by double digits.
Other polls show similar results. A FiveThirtyEight survey has Kemp leading by eight points as of Oct. 11.
-- Rachel Looker
How much have the campaigns raised?
Abrams outraised Kemp in the third quarter by over $7 million between July and the end of September.
Abrams had $11 million on hand while Kemp had over $15.4 million heading into October.
Both candidates have seen a significant number of donations given Georgia's battleground state status.
-- Rachel Looker
Who is Brian Kemp?
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is vying for his second term in office. He defeated Trump-backed candidate David Perdue, a former U.S. Senator, in the primaries.
During his time as governor, Kemp signed legislation for a federal waiver to bypass the Affordable Care Act website, proposed a limited Medicaid expansion, attracted several major manufacturing facilities to Georgia, signed several bills that he says will support small businesses, delivered on a pay increase for teachers and signed a law preventing the teaching of so-called "divisive concepts" in schools.
The Republican governor has received backlash from former President Trump by refusing to help him overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
-- Rachel Looker
Also debating Monday night:Showdown in Youngstown: Ohio Senate candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan face off in debate
Who is Stacey Abrams?
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams rose to the national spotlight following her 2018 run for the governorship of Georgia.
Since then she's been known for her work with get-out-the-vote organizations. She has been credited with registering 800,000 new Georgia voters ahead of the last presidential election.
Abrams works with FairFight Action, a political action committee that focuses on voting rights. The committee raised nearly $90 million in 2020.
If elected, Abrams will serve as the nation's first Black woman governor.
-- Rachel Looker
Who is Shane Hazel?
Shane Hazel is a libertarian gubernatorial candidate in Georgia governor’s race.
Hazel’s campaign focuses on eliminating income and property taxes, legalizing cannabis, repealing and nullifying as many gun laws as possible, bringing more nuclear power to Georgia, privatizing the health industry to include charities and adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
-- Rachel Looker
Black men emerge as Stacey Abrams' key voters
Abrams has trailed Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for much of the 2022 campaign. If she hopes to prevail in her much-anticipated rematch, she’ll need to improve upon the coalition of first-time voters, young voters and Black voters she put together last time.
So far, though, not only has she not gained ground among Black voters, she's significantly behind where she was in 2018.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, the Abrams campaign has been upfront that it needs to shore up support with Black voters overall. Her team provided USA TODAY with internal polling showing Abrams within 2 points of Kemp, at 46% and 48% respectively, closer than earlier public surveys. That's also within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.1percentage points.
Within those figures, Abrams holds a commanding 85%-to-9% lead over Kemp among Black voters. But that is 10 percentage points lower for her than in 2018.
-- Mabinty Quarshie and Phillip Bailey
Read the whole story here:In the tight race for Georgia governor, Black men emerge as Stacey Abrams' key voters
Early voting gets underway in the 2022 Georgia midterm election
Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming were the first states to cast ballots on Sept. 23; Wyoming and Michigan allowed voters in their state to vote early by absentee ballot starting last month. Oklahoma and Kentucky don't allow early in-person votes until November. The majority of states begin their early voting in October.
Savannah Morning News staffers have provided comprehensive coverage of the election going back to the primaries.
-- Savannah Morning News staff
Read the rest here:Early voting gets underway in the 2022 Georgia midterm election
Georgia Senate race also a key election
Kemp and Abrams are debating Monday night, but last Friday the debaters were another pair of Georgia candidates: Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
The two clashed over abortion, voting rights and more —including personal issues — during the first and only debate in the Georgia Senate race.
Georgia is home to one of the most competitive Senate contests of the 2022 cycle, which could determine who controls the 50-50 split chamber next year.
As of late, the race has been consumed by allegations that Walker, a former NFL star, paid an ex-girlfriend to terminate a pregnancy over a decade ago.
The 60-year-old GOP contender, who opposes abortion, has vehemently denied that he gave the unnamed woman any money for the procedure.
-- Phillip Bailey
Takeaways:In sole Ga. Senate debate, Walker and Warnock spar on everything from policy to personal issues
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