Most, but not all, of the crowded field already vying to become Georgia’s next governor stumped at a forum organized by local NAACP chapters in Houston County Wednesday.
The event was held in the gymnasium of Warner Robins’ First Baptist Church before a mostly older audience.
Broadly, messaging broke along party lines, with Republicans saying stay the state should stay the course and Democrats pointing to things they said aren’t working.
Democrat Olu Brown touted his past work as a pastor and educator before riffing on the often repeated claim that Georgia is the No. 1 state to do business.
“But here’s the second reality,” Brown said. “Our quality of life is horrible. Health care is inaccessible. Traffic is terrible. Housing is expensive. Flooding and climate disasters are increasing, students are being left behind, and financial mobility is obsolete.”
For solutions Brown said he wanted to raise the minimum wage, offer universal healthcare coverage and invest in both education and affordable housing.
In his pre-recorded message, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr also invoked Georgia’s No. 1 business state claim.
“We’ve made and kept Georgia the No. 1 state to do business and we’ve worked to keep our communities safe, taking on gangs, shutting down human trafficking networks and fighting the fentanyl crisis head on,” Carr said. “As governor, I will work every day to ensure Georgia families have safe neighborhoods, world-class schools, good jobs and a government that’s accountable to the people.”
Like Olu Brown, Democratic State Senator Jason Esteves listed a litany of problems he said were overdue to be addressed.
“We have a state where 70% of our children are not reading on grade level by the time they reach fourth grade. Where we have the number one worst rate of maternal mortality, especially for black women, in the entire country, where rural hospitals are closing,” Esteves said. “And for those of you who don’t know, Georgia has the third highest rate of seniors living in poverty. All of that while our governor sits on $16 billion of your tax dollars.”
There was, of course, some competition for candidates to portray themselves as authentically Georgian. For Republican Burt Jones and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, there was talk about family roots and the depth of time.
“I was born in middle Georgia, sixth-generation Georgian,” said Jones, who grew up in Butts County.
In a video played on screens flanking the stage, Lance Bottoms said her roots go almost as far back, and likely farther.
“As at least a fifth-generation Georgian, my love for this state runs deep We can trace our family’s roots back to a plantation in Crawfordville, Georgia,” Lance Bottoms said. “And what I know is that this state has and should always be a place of opportunity, even in the worst of times. My people never gave up on the promise of Georgia.”
Democrat Derrick Jackson was one of a number of candidates who seemed eager to battle President Donald Trump as governor.
“Right now, his agenda is to make us sick, dumb, poor, and powerless,” Jackson said
Keisha Lance Bottoms’ video presentation was rife with images of Trump.
“Georgia needs a leader and governor who will fight for us, stand up against the Trump administration’s chaos and destruction and move our state forward,” she said before saying she would commit Georgia to a full expansion of Medicaid benefits.
Republican Burt Jones also took aim at Georgia’s health care access, but by promising to further reform so-called Certificate of Need laws which govern when and how new health care practices can set up shop. Many Republicans say such reforms are key to luring new hospitals to open in rural communities which in recent years have become health care deserts.
“I also believe every Georgian deserves access to the right care at the right time and in their backyard,” Jones said.
Democrat and former Georgia labor secretary Michael Thurmond stood alone in having walk up music—his own theme song with a chorus chant of “Boots on Georgia Ground”—to play before his pitch. He went further.
“You’re getting ready to elect a governor who was the son of a sharecropper. And you see, I’m a sharecropper. But I’m a sharecropper with a law degree and that makes me a bad man,” Thurmond joked to applause before pivoting to Georgia’s education system.
“Go to Fort Valley State, go to Albany State, go to Middle Georgia State. That’s good. Get a liberal arts degree,” Thurmond said. “But we’ve got to teach our parents and our students that it’s just as honorable to go to the technical college. It’s just as honorable to engage in an apprenticeship program.”
The event closed out with the sole Republican to attend in person, Ken Yasger of Tybee Island. He said he has next to no campaign money on hand because of his conviction that money is ruining politics. And he asked the audience to look past party labels and even national politics.
“With all due respect to Donald Trump from New York and Kamala Harris from California, I don’t want a ‘California’ or ‘New York’ Georgia,” Yasger said. “Let’s keep Georgia, Georgia.”
