A pair of debates aimed at informing voters ahead of the May primary election was mostly tense and sometimes personal as frontrunners in both the Republican and Democratic primaries in the race for governor took the opportunity to sling attacks previously reserved for the airwaves.

Candidates from both parties honed in on promises aimed to address affordability concerns, which is a top issue for voters this year. But in the first and likely only time that all GOP candidates will share the debate stage, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Rick Jackson, the healthcare executive who upended the Republican primary as a late entrant, sparred over the millions of dollars that have been spent by both in attack ads aimed at the other.

Democrats were largely unified on their agenda to address affordability concerns through improving access to healthcare, largely by expanding Medicaid, as well as increasing access to affordable housing and higher-paying jobs. But one candidate, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, had to answer repeatedly for his past positions when he was an elected GOP state leader.

Early voting started Monday with election day set for May 19.

Republican ‘slugfest’ gets personal, in person

While some candidates spent millions on attack ads aimed at undecided voters or at chipping away at one another’s votes, other candidates were vocally turned off by the negative discourse that has shaped the Republican primary.

At point one, Attorney General Chris Carr said that “there’s one really rich guy and one guy’s rich daddy that are trying to buy your vote,” referring to Jackson and Jones, respectively.

Tom Williams, a Wilkinson County resident running for the GOP nomination, said that there are “two candidates going toe to toe, spending millions of dollars on negative ads against each other.” And Ken Yasger, an Army veteran and bartender in Tybee Island, said that people are “hurting, and they’re struggling (because) these attacks” in his closing statements as he spoke with his past struggle with mental health and alcohol use.

Maria Andrade, a Democratic strategist based in Atlanta, said on a Democratic Party of Georgia press call before the debate that Democrats welcome the attacks between Jones and Jackson, saying that the “unprecedented spending (in attack ads) is essentially doing our job for us.” The Jackson-Jones rivalry, Andrade said, is reaching a wide range of voters, not just primary voters.

“They have spent millions talking about how Burt Jones has abused public office to enrich himself and enrich his family. They have spent millions to tell Georgia voters how Rick Jackson is an out-of-touch billionaire who’s made his wealth off of state contracts and shady business deals. And this could not be a better scenario for us,” Andrade said.

Those lines of attacks were ratcheted up even more during Monday’s debate.

“After months of brutal Republican infighting, Georgians today got a front-row seat to the utter slugfest that has broken out between Burt Jones and Rick Jackson,” said Democratic Party of Georgia spokesperson Jake Strickland.

The Jones campaign released a new attack ad on Monday painting Jackson as a moderate who has “a new look” and “a new story” meant to appeal to conservative, MAGA voters.

“Tonight, Georgia voters will finally get to hear him answer for it in person. You can change the face, but you can’t erase the record,” said Kayla Lott, a spokesperson for the Jones campaign.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, however, took a different approach to the debate, choosing to instead sling attacks at the Democratic frontrunner Keisha Lance Bottoms, saying that if she wins the governor’s seat, Georgians “wouldn’t have safe streets.” After the debate, he confidently said “I’ll be the nominee for the Republican Party, and I’ll be running against Keisha Lance Bottoms.”

“I don’t have amnesia. I haven’t forgotten. When she was mayor, the city was literally on fire,” Raffensperger said.

TaNisha Cameron, spokesperson for the Bottoms campaign, said that Bottoms “delivered results,” such as pay raises for some first responders, and will continue to do so if elected governor.

“It’s telling that Republicans are spending their time attacking Keisha because she is the candidate in this race best positioned to be elected as the first Democratic governor for the first time this century,” Cameron said.

Democrats unified on agenda but divided on how to win

Bottoms also withstood attacks from a fellow Democrat seeking the party’s nomination. Former Sen. Jason Esteves asked Bottoms about the 2020 killing of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in Atlanta, saying after the debate that having Bottoms at the top of the ballot will be a “liability” for Democrats. Esteves pointed to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Turner’s parents against the city of Atlanta, Wendy’s International and several former city officials, including the former mayor.

“The risk is too great for us to have, especially in a year where we have to win the governor’s office,” Esteves said.

Duncan, who became a vocal critic of President Donald Trump after the 2020 election and who backed Kamala Harris for president and switched parties last fall, also endured attacks focused on his past as a former Republican. Duncan addressed his role in helping pass Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, saying that he “was wrong.” But the most pointed attack came from Democratic state Rep. Derrick Jackson from Tyrone who asked Duncan why he felt “entitled to run for governor as a Democrat?”

“There was a lot of pain that you created while you were in office during your four and a half years in the House, and your four years as a lieutenant governor,” Jackson said, adding that “as a father of four daughters and three sons, you have made this a disaster.”

Duncan said he didn’t feel entitled to the nomination but that “the reality is this: we’ve got to win.”

“Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing, and doing the right thing meant speaking at the DNC, writing opinion columns, standing up and admitting when I was wrong,” Duncan said.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

Clay Fuller, a Trump-backed Republican, is heading to Washington to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after winning a runoff election Tuesday against Democrat Shawn Harris.

The Associated Press called the race for Fuller, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and former district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, at 8:23 p.m. Tuesday.

As of 9 p.m., Fuller claimed nearly 56% of the vote and appeared to lead Harris by about 10 percentage points, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State.

Fuller attributed his win to Trump, who endorsed him and campaigned for him in Rome.

“He made sure that he was the ultimate trump card,” Fuller said. “Now the Democrat Party poured millions of dollars into this campaign, poured lies into this campaign, but they can’t beat Donald Trump, and they never will, and I will be on Capitol Hill as a warrior to have his back each and every day.”

In remarks Tuesday night to reporters in Rome, Harris conceded the race but celebrated his campaign’s performance in the deep red district and what it means for future elections. Harris appeared to be on track to make significant gains for Democrats.

“We didn’t lose this race, because I’m gonna tell you how we won the race. We were short 4,512 votes. Think about what I just said, if we get out and vote, if we get out and speak our voice, we will win this election every time, and we’re gonna win this election come November,” Harris said.

Fuller’s victory returns a Republican to the northwest Georgia district, which has been without a representative in Congress since Greene stepped down in January after feuding with President Donald Trump over issues like Israel’s actions in Gaza and the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

His election will also offer some slight breathing room to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House currently has 217 Republicans and 214 Democrats.

The 14th District is the most Republican-leaning district in the state, according to the Cook Political Report, with Republicans performing 19 points better than in the nation as a whole.

An endorsement from Trump helped Fuller defeat a crowded field in the Republican primary last month.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a measure Wednesday that could allow property owners to sue city and county governments if they fail to enforce state laws related to homelessness, public safety and immigration.

House Bill 295, sponsored by Athens Republican Rep. Houston Gaines, passed with a 98-75 vote, clearing the lower chamber just ahead of a key legislative deadline. It now moves to the Senate for consideration.

The bill targets local governments that may have “pervasive, systemic, or organized” practices that decline to enforce laws against illegal public camping, loitering, drug possession, shoplifting or the state’s ban on “sanctuary policies” that limit cities from working with federal immigration authorities. If cities or counties are found liable, property owners can sue for financial harm from lost property value.

“If a local government refuses to do its job, we’re going to hit that local government in the pocketbook and put the money back in the hands of the property owners who have been harmed,” Gaines, who is also a candidate for the 10th Congressional District, said during floor debate.

Todd Edwards, director of governmental affairs for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, said the organization has noticed a “disturbing trend.” There has been a wave of bills in recent years that waive local governments’ sovereign immunity, which is a standard that generally protects government entities from being sued. Edwards said he sees Gaines’ bill as part of that trend.

Edwards said the association, which represents counties at the state Capitol, does not support the bill but was able to negotiate with Gaines to “incorporate many safeguards,” ensuring it’s not a “blanket” waiver of local government’s sovereign immunity.

“If it’s just an open, all-out waiver of immunity, that means local governments — thus taxpayers — can be sued,” Edwards said. “And this would be a trial attorney’s dream to be able to go after the public purse.”

Rep. Clint Crowe, a Jackson Republican and chair of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, argued the bill is not a “blank check” for litigation but needed accountability on the local level. He noted that damages are capped at the amount of property taxes the owner paid in the previous year.

“What it does is it creates a civil remedy for property owners when (a) local government formally adopts a policy of non-enforcement, when that policy causes documented financial harm … The local government has 30 days to act. If it refuses, the owner may seek relief in the courts. That is the process. It is measured. It is documented. It is not a blank check. It is a backstop,” Crowe said.

Debate on the House floor was divided along party lines, with Democrats arguing that the bill criminalizes poverty while failing to provide the resources needed to solve the underlying issues.

“What it does instead is expose cities and counties to financial liability if they do not enforce certain laws aggressively enough, even when enforcement is not the right or effective response,” said Avondale Estates Democrat Rep. Karla Drenner.

But Rep. Jesse Petrea, a Republican from Savannah, said he hears from business owners about homeless people “defecating on the front stoop, the back stoop, public camping on private property,” saying it is a “cruel” act to allow someone “to live in squalor and filth and not ensure and encourage local governments to move them to a place where they at least have the fundamentals that every human being should have.”

“There’s a better way to serve people than to just ignore the laws that we have on the books,” Petrea said.

The bill also specifically targets so-called “sanctuary” policies. If passed, it would require local governments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as mandated by state law.

Gaines cited cases where local governments allegedly refused to transfer detainees to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody, arguing that “public safety depends on coordination between local, state and federal authorities.”

“When a local government chooses ideology over enforcement, it sends the message that our laws are optional,” Gaines said.

Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, a Smyrna Democrat, called the measure “a direct attack on the most disadvantaged communities.”

“This bill hates immigrants and the unhoused so deeply and uncompromisingly that it leverages against them the wealth and privilege that they are already denied,” Sanchez said. “This bill is yet another example of prioritizing the needs of the wealthy over the needs of everyone else.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where Edwards with the association that represents counties says they will continue to advocate for “safeguards” to protect local governments’ sovereignty.

Friday is Crossover Day, which is a deadline for a bill to pass its chamber of origin in order to have a smooth path to becoming law before the end of the legislative session. The session is set to end April 2.