Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp face off in Georgia governor’s debate

Kemp has doubled down on the issue he has made central to his reelection argument: How Georgia reopened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“You remember when Joe Biden made a big deal about the United States of America being back to pre-pandemic unemployment levels?” Kemp said. “Georgia did that nine months before the rest of the country did because we gave you the choice.”

Kemp argued Abrams would have supported mandates for vaccines and masks. 

Abrams shot back, suggesting Kemp’s decision to reopen early was based on concern about large corporations. 

“38,800 people died in the state of Georgia. He had one of the highest death rates in the nation,” said Abrams. 

CNN’s Michael Warren notes that as he has spoken with Democratic-leaning donors in Georgia who said they were voting for Kemp, two issues kept coming up:

Kemp’s willingness to “open up” the state early in the pandemic and the state’s new gun law that citizens can carry concealed firearms without a permit. We heard Kemp tout both of those positions in the second half of the debate.

The first commercial break in Sunday’s gubernatorial debate was a quick one and featured just two ads: one highlighting Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker’s history with violent outbursts toward women, followed by an ad tying Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock to President Joe Biden’s policies.

Ads like these have become inescapable in Georgia as both the Senate and governor’s races have been two of the most expensive campaigns in the country.

When I was talking with voters in a suburb north of Atlanta earlier this month, a frustrated mother told me she’s even seen an anti-Walker ad before a children’s YouTube video she was playing for her infant daughter.

Just circling back to one notable exchange during the debate over crime policy.

Gov. Brian Kemp had argued that he has the firm backing of law enforcement around the state, in part because of statements that his Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, has made about police and police funding (the characterization of which she disputes).

But in response, Abrams spoke from personal experience about how members of her family have been targeted by police because of the color of their skin.

After Kemp noted that he has the endorsement of 107 sheriffs around this state, Abrams was ready with a quick retort.

“As I pointed out before, I’m not a member of the good old boys club,” Abrams said. “So no, I don’t have 107 sheriffs who want to be able to take Black people off the streets, who want to be able to go without accountability. I don’t believe every sheriff wants that. But I do know that we need a governor who believes in both defending law enforcement – but also defending the people of Georgia. I have two brothers, one who has committed crimes and one who was a social worker – trying to help keep people from committing crimes.”

“My brother who commits crimes should be held accountable,” she continued. “But my other brother should never be pulled over for driving while Black. And yet in this Georgia, he is. I’m running for governor because we lead complicated lives. And we need a governor who’s willing to hold law enforcement accountable, but also be supportive.”

Kemp is being very careful to portray himself as anything but an extremist.

While he has occasionally engaged with Abrams, he has, by and large, avoided any sort of sharp back and forth with her. This is likely a function of a) Kemp believes he is comfortably ahead and doesn’t need to take risks and b) he is wary of coming across as too aggressive — particularly on abortion — when debating a woman.

Kemp has repeatedly noted that he believes Abrams is attacking his record because she doesn’t want to talk about her own.

Halfway through the debate, one person is notable in his absence: former President Donald Trump.

Neither Abrams nor Kemp have mentioned the billionaire businessman. 

For Kemp, it speaks to the rocky relationship he has had with the former President, who has attacked him for refusing to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

For Abrams, Trump may be popular enough in the state that she doesn’t view it as politically advantageous to spend time linking Kemp to him.

In a fiery answer over abortion, Democrat Stacey Abrams invoked Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker and the series of abortion allegations against him to attack Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp.

“We know that under this governor, women are in danger,” said Abrams, adding later, “More importantly he refuses to protect us … and yet he defended Herschel Walker, saying that he didn’t want to be involved in the personal life of his running mate. But he doesn’t mind being involved in the personal lives and personal medical choices of women in Georgia.”

Abrams later addressed the lack of health care among Georgia women.

“It is a terribly dangerous position to put women in and it is a position this government will only put women in because he defends Herschel Walker but will not defend the women of Georgia,” she said.

Walker, who is running in a tight Senate race against Democrat Raphael Warnock, is facing allegations that he paid for two women to terminate their pregnancies. Walker has denied those allegations.

When Kemp was asked about the allegations against Walker, he said he was “supporting the ticket.”

Kemp did not address the Walker allegations, giving an answer that acknowledged some Georgia voters don’t agree with his more conservative views on the issue. In 2019, Kemp signed a bill that bans most abortions when early cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy – when many women don’t yet know they’re pregnant.

“I would tell people that we passed the heartbeat bill three years ago. We are a state that values life,” Kemp said. “They have known my position for ten years and I have been honest and transparent with them.”

While attacking Abrams on the issue, Kemp tried to use his commitment on the issue as a plus, even if voters disagree with him.

“I can understand people can disagree on policy. At least people know where I have been. I have been consistent, I have been transparent, I did the exactly things I said I could do. And think that is a good reason for people to reelect me,” the governor said.

Crime has been a major issue in many midterm races around the country and it quickly became a flashpoint between Gov. Brian Kemp and his Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams in Sunday’s gubernatorial debate.

When the moderator noted that Atlanta is experiencing record violent crime, Kemp insisted that he was out in front addressing that issue – identifying street gangs and cartels as a problem before others were paying attention.

But he soon pivoted to criticize Abrams as an ally of progressive groups who sought to “defund the police” following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

“We’re not the local police department,” Kemp said. “I’m not the mayor. I’m the governor.”

“Go check the record, because Ms. Abrams on CNN got asked the question, would she defund the police? And she said, yes, we have to reallocate resources. That means defunding the police,” Kemp said.

But Abrams said Kemp was lying about her record. She noted that under his leadership, violent crime and gun violence have gone up in Georgia.

“Guns are the number one killer of our children. We have the ninth highest gun violence rate in the nation. Family violence with guns has gone up 18% under this governor, and his response was to weaken gun laws in the state of Georgia,” she said.

Abrams added that Kemp was distorting her record on police funding.

“I believe in public safety. I did not say, and nor do I believe, in defunding the police,” she said. “He is lying again. And I’ve never said that. I believe in the funding the police. I believe in public safety and accountability.”

Abrams has proposed providing $25 million in state grants to local agencies for pay increases for law enforcement. 

In June, Kemp joined Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens for a ribbon cutting ceremony at a new police precinct in Atlanta’s well-to-do community of Buckhead.

Kemp at the time touted state and local law enforcement working together to combat crime in Atlanta.

“Public safety has no political boundaries,” Kemp said. “Whether you’re Republican, you’re Democrat or whether you don’t care. You want your neighborhood to be safe, you want your streets to be safe and that’s what today is all about: fulfilling the No. 1 duty of government by protecting its citizens.”

Even as Gov. Brian Kemp is trying to tie Stacey Abrams to President Joe Biden, Abrams just made an attempt to link the incumbent to Herschel Walker, the GOP Senate nominee.

In an answer on abortion, Abrams noted that Kemp gave a non-answer when it came to allegations against Walker from two women who have said he urged them to have abortions in years past. (Walker has repeatedly denied these allegations.)

Kemp and Abrams have had to make arguments about the economy that run counter to their national parties’ message on the subject. The first few minutes of Sunday’s debate demonstrated how Kemp’s incumbency has flipped the script on the economy in 2022.

While Republicans are running nationally against Washington Democrats’ handling of a sluggish economy and high inflation, Kemp has argued that his first term in office has been a boon for Georgians’ pocketbooks. In his opening statement, Kemp said Georgia is experiencing its lowest unemployment rate and has the “most people working” than ever before in the state’s history. He also cited strong economic development achievements and touted his willingness to reopen the state for business very soon after the beginning of the pandemic. 

Kemp nodded to the national GOP’s message criticizing President Joe Biden’s economic record when he noted that Georgian workers’ wages are going up. 

“The problem is, they’re not going up fast enough to keep up with Joe Biden’s inflation,” he said.

Abrams, meanwhile, went after the “economic pain” being felt by Georgians – echoing the national GOP’s rhetoric about the country this midterm cycle. Her focus, of course, was on Kemp’s own track record, citing specifically the state’s restrictive abortion and voting laws as turning away employers from expanding their operations into Georgia.

Abrams said Kemp’s policies have “put the wealthy and the powerful first” and promised to be a better steward for federal monies coming to the state.

“A record $10.9 million is coming to Georgia, and as governor, I’ll make sure that money is spent fairly,” she said.

Kemp echoed national Republicans’ mantra – alleging that Abrams wants to defund the police and end cash bail, while Abrams said she has “never” called for defunding the police and said Kemp is lying about her record.

These are attacks that are being used by Republicans against Democrats all over the country. And a recent Gallup poll showed why Republicans are so laser-focused on crime as an issue. The polling showed that peoples’ concerns about local crime are at their highest in five decades.

Read more here:

Kemp and Abrams offered much different visions of what Georgia’s governor can do to fight inflation, with Kemp focusing on tax cuts and Abrams proposing more government help footing bills for health care, education and more.

Kemp repeatedly pinned blame on President Joe Biden for rising prices.

“Americans are hurting right now because of the disastrous policy agenda by Joe Biden and the Democrats who have complete control in Washington, DC,” he said.

He touted this year’s one-time $1 billion tax credit and the temporary suspension of Georgia’s 29-cent-per-gallon gas tax “to just help them fight through the 40-year-high Biden inflation.”

Abrams, meanwhile, sought to blame Kemp, saying that inflation in Georgia is worse than in 36 other states.

She said she would seek to expand Medicaid, an option under Obamacare that would grow the pool of low-income residents eligible for the program. She also said she would push to make technical college free and expand affordable housing efforts.

Gov. Brian Kemp, perhaps in a sign that he believes he is comfortably ahead in the race, didn’t mention Stacey Abrams in his opening statement.

Instead, the Republican focused on the accomplishments of his four years in office and said he hoped to earn viewers’ votes. 

Abrams, on the other hand, went right at Kemp. The Democrat said, “Under this governor, the pain is getting worse.”

She also blasted Kemp’s policies, claiming that they favor the wealthy.

rules for the second debate between between Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams in Georgia are straight forward: Each candidate will have 90 seconds for their response to a question and 45 seconds for rebuttals.

Justin Farmer, the host of tonight’s debate, said the questions would focus on the economy, affordable housing, crime, election integrity and other issues. Some questions will come from a panel of other journalists.

Candidates for the debate had to reach a 10% polling threshold.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is one of the rare GOP contenders this political cycle who has survived an onslaught of derision and criticism from former President Donald Trump. Kemp became one of Trump’s chief targets after he rebuffed the former President’s requests for him to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Trump called Kemp the “worst governor in America” and a “Republican in name only.” At one point, he suggested that Kemp’s Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, “might be better than having your existing governor.” And he recruited David Perdue, one of the state’s former senators, to run against Kemp in the primary.

But Trump’s effort to torpedo Kemp turned out to be an embarrassing failure and the primary election proved to be a rebuke of his lies about the 2020 election. Throughout the primary, Kemp ignored Trump’s criticism and kept a steady focus on reminding Georgia voters of his conservative credentials – from his early re-opening of Georgia in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, to the law he signed restricting mail-in voting, to his backing of a law allowing most Georgians to carry a concealed firearm without a license.

As he clinched victory in the primary, Kemp made no mention of Trump in his speech beyond an allusion to just how hard the former President had made it for him to win: “Even in the middle of a tough primary, conservatives across our state didn’t listen to the noise,” Kemp said at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.

“They didn’t get distracted; they knew our record of fighting and winning for hard-working Georgians.”

One thing you’re almost certain to hear tonight: Gov. Brian Kemp (or possibly a debate moderator) asking Democrat Stacey Abrams about her refusal to “concede” following her loss to Kemp in their 2018 contest.

Abrams’ choice of words on the night she ended her campaign for governor four years ago, after exhausting a handful of legal challenges, has become a talking point for Kemp and national Republicans, typically in trying to make a false equivalence between the actions of Abrams and what former President Donald Trump did – and didn’t do – after losing the 2020 election.

Kemp and Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, though they rebuffed Trump’s efforts to overturn the results in the key swing state, have sought to use Abrams’ words against her – claiming, as Raffensperger wrote in a December 6, 2020 Wall Street Journal op-ed, that she was responsible for “establishing a playbook that President Trump is following to the letter right now” by refusing “to concede.”

Abrams has argued that Kemp and Georgia GOP leaders used the tools of the state to suppress the vote four years ago. But even so, she acknowledged Kemp’s certification and that she no longer had legal avenues.

Here is what Abrams said during her non-concession concession speech on November 16, 2018:

 “I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified as the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial election. But to watch an elected official, who claims to represent the people in this state, baldly pin his hopes for election on the suppression of the people’s democratic right to vote has been truly appalling. So, let’s be clear, this is not a speech of concession. Concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that. But my assessment is that the law currently allows no further viable remedy.” 

This is quite different from what Trump did in the aftermath of his loss to Joe Biden. Ten days after the 2018 midterms, Abrams did what Trump still refuses to do nearly two full years after the 2020 vote – admit defeat.

A person uses a voting machine to fill out and cast their ballot as early voting continues for the midterm elections at a polling location in Americus, Georgia, on Tuesday, October 25.

The American electorate is more polarized than ever. Just one state voted differently for president and senator in the 2020 election. 

Yet, Georgia may be one of a number of states that may elect candidates of different parties for senator and governor. 

Let’s look at the four closest swing states that Biden won in 2020. 

The polling in Georgia has shown Kemp clearly ahead and Warnock and Walker in a tight race.

In Arizona, we see a similar pattern of the Democratic Senate incumbent (Mark Kelly) doing better than the Democrat running for governor (Katie Hobbs). 

Pennsylvania and Wisconsin show the opposite trend. The Democratic gubernatorial nominees are running ahead of the Democratic Senate nominees. 

The fact is that there are fewer swing voters than there used to be, but that is countered by the fact that there are a lot of close races this year. A small shift in the vote could make the difference in a number of contests. 

Democrats have long hoped at turning the Sun Belt blue as Republicans make up ground in the area commonly known as the Rust Belt in the north. This year, they had dreams of winning or at least being strongly competitive in a number of Sun Belt states led by Republican governors such as Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas. 

They’re not favored to win in any of these races right now, including in Georgia. 

Part of the problem is that this is shaping up to be a Republican-leaning year nationally. The most Democratic of the states in the list above is arguably Arizona, which Biden won by well less than a point. Biden won Georgia too, but, again, by the thinnest of margins. 

The other big problem for Democrats is that they need to win by big margins among voters of color (Blacks and Hispanics) to win in the Sun Belt. Polling, however, has shown that Democrats are weaker this year among Black voters (pivotal in Georgia) and among Hispanic voters than they were both in 2018 and 2020. two

Georgia hosts one of the most pivotal Senate races this year between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. Four years ago, the gubernatorial race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp was decided by fewer than 2 points. 

That might make you think that this year’s rematch between Abrams and Kemp would be very close too. So far, this simply has not been the case in the polling data. 

The polls consistently have put Kemp ahead of Abrams by a little more than 5 points on average and, importantly, above the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff in December. This means Kemp is favored to win outright in November. 

While Abrams has become a Democratic star nationally, polling has generally shown her net favorability rating (favorable minus unfavorable) under water in Georgia. 

Of course, Abrams faced an uphill climb from the start. It’s tough to beat an incumbent whose approval rating is above 50%, as Kemp’s is. 

Democrat Stacey Abrams, left, and Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

When Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams take the stage Sunday, it will mark the candidates’ second debate in the run-up to Election Day.

The pair sparred over health care, crime and punishment, and voting rights in the election’s first debate earlier this month. Here are four key takeaways from that event:

• Kemp invoked Biden: Kemp took every opportunity to connect Abrams to President Joe Biden, who, despite winning the state in 2020, is a deeply unpopular figure in Georgia now. Abrams, unlike so many other Democrats running this year, has not sought to distance herself from the President.
• Contraception ban comments: Kemp was questioned about remarks he made – taped without his knowledge – in which he expressed some openness to a push to ban contraceptive drugs like Plan B. Asked if he would pursue such legislation if reelected, Kemp said, “No, I would not” and that “it’s not my desire to” push further abortion restrictions.
• The non-concession concession speech: Abrams was pressed on the speech she gave effectively – but not with the precise language – conceding the 2018 election to Kemp. She pledged to again accept the results of the election but renewed her accusations that Kemp has made it harder for people to cast ballots. Abrams has said the speech was a symbolic point about Kemp, as the state’s top elections official at the time, suppressing the vote.
• Kemp hammered Abrams on police: At one point, Kemp asked Abrams to name all the sheriffs who had endorsed her campaign. The answer, of course, was that most law enforcement groups in the state are behind the Republican. Abrams said the race called for a nuanced discussion of public safety and racial violence. Kemp kept the message simple: “I support safety and justice.”

Georgia is considered one of Republicans’ best chances to pick up a seat in the US Senate, as Democrats try to hold on to the slimmest of voting majorities in the chamber.

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is running for his first full six-year term against Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the college football icon anointed by former President Donald Trump.

Republicans have focused on tying Warnock closely to his party – specifically for supporting measures in Washington that they claim exacerbated inflation. That’s a strategy you’re likely to see Gov. Brian Kemp use against his challenger Stacey Abrams again in this evening’s debate.

Walker has also positioned himself as an ally to law enforcement, while portraying Warnock as soft on crime.

Democrats are hoping enough Georgians won’t see voting for Walker as an option – even if they do back Kemp. They have amped up their attacks on Walker’s domestic violence allegations, claims that he paid former partners to terminate pregnancies and unflattering headlines about his business record.

Warnock has stressed abortion rights and Medicaid expansion as key issues on which he offers a different vision for Georgia from Walker.

In the race against incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams has made protecting abortion rights a central issue during her campaign.

In particular, Abrams has focused on a 2019 law signed by Kemp that bans most abortions when early cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy — when many women don’t yet know they’re pregnant.

After initially being blocked, the law went into effect earlier this year following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade — a decision that has energized Democrats across the country, helping shift the midterm political landscape into more unsettled territory.

Abrams is testing how much the issue can shift things in her favor in a state President Joe Biden narrowly carried in 2020, but that has long voted Republican.

“Women deserve full citizenship in the United States and certainly in the state of Georgia, and they are being denied that because of Brian Kemp’s 6-week ban,” Abrams, who lost to Kemp by fewer than 2 points four years ago, told CNN in September.

She said she hears from outraged health care providers as she travels the state: “We are driving not only doctors and nurses out of the state, we’re likely going to drive jobs away. And that should be terrifying to anyone regardless of your political persuasion.”

Meanwhile, the Republican governor has stood by the law, which provides some exceptions, and has otherwise stayed focused on pocketbook issues.

“Rather than be sidetracked by the latest national media frenzy, he will continue to focus on bringing hardworking Georgians relief from 40-year-high inflation through tax relief and creating economic opportunities in every corner of the state,” Kemp campaign spokesman Tate Mitchell said in an emailed statement.

In a Fox News interview earlier this month, Abrams connected Kemp’s abortion position to his support for Herschel Walker, the Georgia Republican Senate nominee embroiled in controversy after multiple outlets reported he paid a woman to have an abortion.

“(Georgians) are watching their freedoms being stripped away and he calls it a personal choice for Herschel Walker, but not a personal choice for the millions of Georgia women who need access to abortion care,” Abrams said.

Abrams has said that she was “anti-abortion” until she went to college and met a friend who gave her a new perspective.

CNN’s Aaron Pellish contributed reporting to this post.

With a little over a week to go until Election Day, more than 1 million Georgians have already cast their votes.

Midterm voters turned out in record numbers on Oct. 17, the first day of early in-person voting, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. At some of the busiest polling places in metro areas that day, people waited in line for more than 30 minutes, though “reports of long lines were minimal,” said Raffensperger, the top elections official.

Georgia is home to a series of critical midterm races for the US Senate, US House and statewide posts from governor to secretary of state. In-person early voting will be held for parts of three weeks – no fewer than 17 days in all – through Election Day on Nov. 8.

But following the implementation of a restrictive new voting law, which made it harder to vote through the mail, civil rights groups are paying close attention to this first general election under the revised guidelines.

Turnout is expected to top the state’s last midterm figures but also fall short of 2020.

Voting access is a key issue in the governor’s race: When Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams faced off in 2018, Kemp was the state’s top elections official at the time.

Abrams accused Kemp and his allies of unfairly working to suppress the vote by reducing access, and she’s renewed that line of attack this time around.

CNN’s Ethan Cohen, Melissa Holzberg DePalo and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.