AUGUSTA, Ga. — CSRA voters sizing up Georgia’s open governor’s race finally saw Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson on the same stage Tuesday night, in a town hall that is expected to be their only joint forum before Nov. 3.
Broadcast from an Atlanta television studio, the hour let undecided Georgians quiz the candidates on affordability, healthcare, surveillance cameras and the state’s data-center boom, according to overnight debate coverage. Bottoms, a Democrat and former Atlanta mayor, said she is not running to be Trump’s favorite governor. Jackson, Trump-endorsed in the primary, cast Gov. Brian Kemp as his model for working with — and standing up to — Washington.
A Lee County voter’s question on high-tech expansion triggered the night’s sharpest clash: Bottoms called for a statewide pause on new data centers and said Jackson’s investments create a conflict. Jackson said Bottoms’ mayoral record includes approving data-center work with tax breaks and disputed her count of his holdings.
For Augusta and the CSRA, the Medicaid and hospital-staffing fight lands close to home. Bottoms accused Jackson’s staffing companies of pulling clinicians from rural hospitals; Jackson pivoted to cost-control ideas and a limited Medicaid expansion he said would protect existing federal dollars.
Both backed higher teacher pay and tougher rules when insurers deny care. Jackson pledged to cut the state income tax in half in one term or not seek reelection. Bottoms floated teacher income-tax relief, car-insurance tax cuts and optional local grocery sales-tax suspension. Early voting starts Oct. 13 in a race still polling within the margin of error.