{"id":17781,"date":"2026-10-07T15:57:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T07:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781"},"modified":"2026-10-07T15:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T07:57:46","slug":"georgia-governor-candidates-spar-on-the-economy-and-trump-in-lone-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781","title":{"rendered":"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson met for a town-hall style debate ahead of the Georgia gubernatorial election. (Getty)\u00a9\u00a0Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night during their only scheduled debate of this fall\u2019s race for governor in Georgia, taking aim at one another on economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public polls show Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, and Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive, locked in a close race four weeks out from Election Day, and with early voting kicking off next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hourlong, town-hall style debate was largely civil, featuring live and taped questions from voters. Though Jackson frequently ripped his opponent over her record as mayor, while Bottoms attacked her rival\u2019s praise of Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy opponent has said he wants to be Trump\u2019s favorite governor. He wants to be Trump with a southern tone. He said there\u2019s not a single policy that he disagrees with Trump on,\u201d Bottoms said at one point, responding to a question about the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to federal funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will stand up to Donald Trump when necessary. I\u2019m not running to be his favorite governor,\u201d Bottoms continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson responded to that attack by saying, \u201cI don\u2019t owe anybody anything\u201d and that \u201cnobody\u2019s ever told me what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then invoked the Brian Kemp, Georgia\u2019s popular, term-limited governor \u2014 the first of multiple times he did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will stand up to anybody, just like Brian Kemp has done. He works with both parties, both presidents, and he stands up when he disagrees,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump endorsed Jackson\u2019s rival, Lt. Gov Burt Jones, during the Republican gubernatorial primary. But Jackson still attempted to claim the MAGA mantle<\/a> and leaned heavily into comparing himself to the president. Since winning the nomination in June, he\u2019s backed off that approach and sought to link himself more to Kemp, who had also backed Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson, for his part, took several shots at Bottoms over her tenure as mayor, accusing her of being responsible for regional inflation in the Atlanta area he claimed exceeded national inflation rates and pointing to higher crime rates in the city during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the kind of policy that we cannot have in running Georgia. Not having people feeling safe to go to work,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBad mayors don\u2019t make good governors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the candidates were asked about housing and education, the event predominantly focused on economic issues and affordability, with both candidates repeatedly pressed on how they\u2019d bring down costs. Both focused heavily on tax relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottoms emphasized her proposals to cut or suspend state or local taxes on a raft of items like auto insurance, groceries, hygiene products and diapers. Jackson, in turn, reiterated his promise to cut state income taxes, property taxes and taxes on certain utilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data centers and the controversial surveillance traffic cameras known as Flock cameras also took center stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On data centers, Bottoms repeated her desire to implement a pause on new construction. Jackson said he wouldn\u2019t approve new construction as governor without first getting local community approval, establishing environmental standards and receiving a commitment that the power bill of local communities would be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the two sparred on the issue, as well, with Bottoms accusing Jackson of investing in data centers and Jackson accusing her of having approved the construction of them as mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottoms also said she wasn\u2019t opposed to a moratorium on the installation of new Flock cameras, while Jackson said he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of election security \u2014 which has hung over Georgia politics for six years <\/a>\u2014 also came up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottoms said she was \u201cdeeply concerned about Donald Trump\u2019s rhetoric around our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson, however, when asked whether he thought the U.S. Justice Department should be \u201coverseeing and getting involved\u201d with the state\u2019s elections, deferred to the sitting governor again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessary unless Gov. Kemp thinks it\u2019s necessary,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackson has flooded the airwaves with ads, using tens of millions of dollars of his own money to outspend Bottoms 7-to-1 as of last week.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That disparity has worried many Democrats, <\/a>who\u2019ve seen this year as a prime opportunity to flip the governorship blue for the first time in 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aiding Bottoms is the broader political environment in Georgia and nationally: Trump is facing negative approval ratings<\/a> and voter concerns with his administration\u2019s handling<\/a> of the economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night during their only scheduled debate of this fall\u2019s race for governor in Georgia, taking aim at one another on economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump. Public polls show Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, and Jackson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":17782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2377,2109,2992],"class_list":["post-17781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-debate","tag-georgia","tag-governor"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night during their only scheduled debate of this fall\u2019s race for governor in Georgia, taking aim at one another on economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump. Public polls show Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, and Jackson, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T07:57:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T07:57:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sddm0805\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"LISTEN WORLD\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":512},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781\",\"name\":\"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-07T07:57:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-07T07:57:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298\",\"name\":\"sddm0805\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sddm0805\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=11\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD","og_description":"Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night during their only scheduled debate of this fall\u2019s race for governor in Georgia, taking aim at one another on economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump. Public polls show Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, and Jackson, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781","og_site_name":"LISTEN WORLD","article_published_time":"2026-10-07T07:57:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-07T07:57:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"sddm0805","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/","name":"LISTEN WORLD","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1-3.jpg","width":768,"height":512},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781","name":"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate - LISTEN WORLD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2026-10-07T07:57:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-07T07:57:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17781#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Georgia governor candidates spar on the economy and Trump in lone debate"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/401cf16edf5abe8109bc4f81d40e2298","name":"sddm0805","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b923aee309f3523e57a0208042f74bc6f6899d4ce27b86964e2e49bf87805ff1?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"sddm0805"},"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=11"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17783,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17781\/revisions\/17783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}