Georgia governor's debate highlights voters' top concerns

Georgia's race for governor, one of 36 this fall, produced its only televised debate between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, and Republican billionaire Rick Jackson. PBS NewsHour correspondent Liz Landers reports that Jackson holds a modest polling lead and a large spending edge, with his ads saturating Atlanta-area television.

Questions from voters covered affordability, Flock cameras, data centers, wages and Medicaid expansion. Bottoms repeatedly tried to link Jackson to President Trump, who has endorsed him. Jackson replied that he owes nobody anything and answers to Georgians, never naming Trump and comparing himself to Governor Brian Kemp instead. At a Fulton County Republican watch party, attendees praised his business record and outsider status, and most expected a Trump visit would energize the base.

Nationally, Republicans hold 26 governorships and Democrats 24. Democrats see a chance in Iowa, Republicans are favored in Kansas, and Democrats are competing in Ohio and Alaska. In Texas, the Democratic Governors Association and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker are each giving $1 million to Gina Hinojosa, who led Governor Greg Abbott slightly in a Siena poll. Democrats have not won statewide there since 1994.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →