Two races in Georgia have seized the spotlight as the campaign moves toward autumn.
The Senate and gubernatorial races have generated enthusiasm as candidates devise a winning strategy for November. The outcome is expected to impact the balance of power in Georgia and Washington, DC.
In the governors' race, Democrats nominated former Atlanta mayor and city councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms, while Republicans chose billionaire Rick Jackson, who has never held public office. Bottoms, who served one term leading the capital city during the COVID-19 pandemic, has pledged to expand Medicaid for the uninsured, save rural hospitals, and build on her mayoral initiative to create neighborhood enterprise zones to support black businesses. She also points to the pay raises she gave police officers, efforts to keep seniors and longtime Atlantans in their homes, and leaving the city with a balanced budget. Lastly, Bottoms has characterized her opponent as an oligarch who has spent millions of his massive fortune to buy the governor's office, and has linked him to war in Iran, high tariffs, and rising gas prices.
Meanwhile, the Rick Jackson campaign has used Bottom's record as mayor to attract voters. They claim crime skyrocketed during her tenure as mayor as she eliminated cash bonds and supposedly backed defunding the police or severely cut their budget. Republicans have also heavily criticized her handling of the George Floyd riots that crippled the city and her response to a high-profile police shooting of a Black man, who escaped on foot following an altercation with police. Jackson, who was raised in Atlanta public housing and later in foster care, has reached out to African Americans about neighborhood gentrification, enterprise zones, property taxes, and rising rents. He also hopes to improve public education and expand the economy.
In addition to the governor's race, the U.S. Senate campaign features incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and Republican Congressman Mike Collins, and both have come out swinging. Collins, who has consistently pledged to continue the Trump agenda if elected, has accused Senator Ossoff of voting to gut rural hospitals, raise taxes on overtime pay, and end the child tax credit started during the COVID pandemic. However, critics and those who have followed Ossoff's Senate career have debunked such attacks. Instead, they point to his legislative accomplishments: a law to protect kids from child predators, to lower prescription drug costs, disaster relief for Georgians during Hurricane Helen, and major infrastructure investments in the state, among other policy stances.
The Ossoff campaign has countered with crushing television ads. Supporters released a sketchy recording of Collins telling retired Georgians to go back to work. They warn that if elected, he will eliminate, severely cut, or raise the retirement age for collecting full Social Security benefits. Ossoff also blames Collins for opposing the release of the Epstein file and links him to high tariffs and food and gas prices. Lastly, Collins faces ethics questions related to supposed business dealings and support of white supremacist groups.
Poll results are mixed thus far. Ossoff appears to have a double-digit lead over Collins, while the governors' race is virtually neck and neck despite Jackson outspending Bottoms nearly 3 to 1. However, the candidates are warning their base not to take the polls for granted or sit this one out, as the stakes are too high.
In a month, the elections will be decided, and life will return to normal.
