Georgia Gubernatorial Candidates Trade Barbs, Talking Points During Debate

By T.A. DeFeo | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square Georgia

October 19, 2022

(The Center Square) — The top three candidates running for governor in Georgia sparred during a heated debate Monday, the first day of early voting in the state.

Democrat Stacey Abrams, Libertarian Shane Hazel and incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appeared during an Atlanta Press Club debate that aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting. The debate, which included the usual barbs and regurgitated talking points, included topics ranging from abortion to crime to the economy.

When asked about the state's biggest challenge, Abrams highlighted rising crime and attacked Kemp for his stance on abortion.

"Gang crime is up, gun violence is up, housing prices have skyrocketed; equity investors have purchased 30% of the homes in the state of Georgia," Abrams said. "We have 1.4 million people without health insurance who cannot see a doctor when they need one. We live in a state of fear, and this is a governor who, for the last four years, has beat his chest but delivered very little for most Georgians."

"He has weakened gun laws and flooded our streets; he has weakened our privacy rights and … women's rights; he's denied women the access to reproductive care," Abrams added. "The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp. We need a governor who actually understands the math and the morality."

Meanwhile, Hazel said the economy is the state's biggest challenge and seized the opportunity to lambast Democrats and Republicans, saying they don't understand the economy.

"The biggest problem facing us is the economy," Hazel said. "But to quote the great [economist Murray] Rothbard, the man who puts all the guns and all the decision-making power into the hands of a central government and then says limit yourself, he is truly the impractical utopian. The idea that the economy isn't the biggest problem that we have in Georgia is because people don't understand economics."

"These guys don't understand economics from Republicans or Democrats or else we wouldn't be in the hole that we're in terms of trillions and trillions of dollars," Hazel added. "What we need to do is get back to basics — Austrian economics where we get rid of this cancer that has invaded every transaction that we have through a fiat currency system. Creating freedom for everybody in Georgia is the default position: not more government, not more programs, not more policies, not more point at the barrel of the gun force and coercion. It is freedom."

In response, Kemp criticized Abrams' record, saying she supports groups that favor the "Defund the Police" movement.

"My record's being attacked because Miss Abrams doesn't want to talk about her own record," Kemp said. "If you look at what the state of Georgia and our first lady Marty Kemp has done to raise awareness on ending human trafficking, going after the perpetrators and supporting the victim as well as us working with the General Assembly to give Medicaid benefits to ... birthing mothers up to a year after having that child and other things shows you … that we value life and that we care."

"But in the future, my focus is going to be what it was when I opened the debate and that is helping you fight through 40-year-high inflation and disastrous policies in Washington D.C.," Kemp added. "I would remind you that Stacey Abrams campaigned to be Joe Biden's running mate. She supports these policies that have raised taxes on hard-working Americans and Georgians when they promised they would not. We're working with the General Assembly to help you fight through that by suspending the gas tax and giving your money back."

The focus of the work of The Center Square Georgia is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.