Georgia’s Kemp and Abrams Clash in First Debate of Rematch

Margaret Newkirk
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams clashed Monday night in the first of two debates of their closely watched rematch.

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At an Atlanta Press Club event that also included Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel, Kemp painted Abrams as soft on crime and tied her repeatedly with President Joe Biden and the nation’s economic woes.

“I would remind you that Stacey Abrams ran to be Joe Biden’s running mate,” Kemp said, referring to reports that she was under consideration as a vice presidential candidate in 2020. “She supports these policies.”

Abrams portrayed Kemp as out of touch with Georgians’ priorities and criticized him for backing tougher anti-abortion restrictions and looser gun laws

“The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp,” Abrams said.

Abrams, a former minority leader in the Georgia House and a nationally known voting rights activist, came closer to the governor’s mansion in 2018 than any Democrat in more than two decades. Two years later, her organizing was widely credited with helping turn Georgia Democratic in the presidential and U.S. Senate races.

Their rematch has been building for four years.

This time around, Abrams has led Kemp in fundraising --- $85 million to $68 million as of their filings this month -- but has consistently trailed him in polls. As the debate began, Kemp was five points ahead in the latest Real Clear Politics polling average.

Kemp has been highlighting his record, and includes the state’s 2.8 % unemployment rate, which is lower than than the national rate, his decision to allow locked-down Georgia businesses to reopen early in the coronavirus pandemic and a spate of economic development projects announced during his first term, including a $5.5 billion Hyundai electric vehicle and battery plant near Savannah.

In addition, Biden is unpopular in the state. An Oct. 12 Quinnipiac University poll showed him with a 44% approval rating.

“My record is being attacked because Ms. Abrams does not want to talk about her own record,” Kemp said.

Abrams is running on her vision for the future, including expanding Medicaid in the state for the first time, which would insure an estimated 600,000 more Georgians; saving rural hospitals, and using the state’s healthy budget surplus to invest in education.

She accused Kemp of exaggerating his record of success.

“Crime is up, gun violence is up, housing prices have skyrocketed, equity investors have purchased 30% of the homes in the state, we have 1.4 million people without health insurance,” Abrams said.

“This is a governor who for the last four years has beat his chest but has delievered very little for most Georgians,” she said.

Hazel, the Libertarian, standing between his two opponents, fought to get more time in the debate and criticized the major party candidates for supporting, among other things, taxes and public schools.

Hazel has been running in the single digits, but that could matter if the race is tight. Georgia law requires a winner to exceed 50% the vote in order to avoid a runoff in December.

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