ASHBURN, Georgia — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams, telling voters in south Georgia that her policies would be poison for small businesses across the state.
Kemp claimed Abrams would defund the police, get rid of cash bail, and put her political aspirations ahead of what is best for Georgians.
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“People know what my record is now, and they also know what Stacey Abrams’s record is,” Kemp told the Washington Examiner. “She criticized me when we kept our economy open. She criticized me when we sent our kids back to school. She criticized things I have done to fight through 40-year-high inflation for our citizens, sending $1 billion of tax money back, suspending the gas tax, [and having the] largest state income tax cut in history. She’s criticized all of those things before, [but] she now supports them because the political winds are changing, and Georgians know that. They are smart voters, and they want somebody who’s going to be honest and somebody who’s going to fight for them, and I’ve been doing that every day.”
Kemp and Abrams are locked in a heated rematch of the 2018 election, in which Kemp edged out Abrams for the win. (Kemp beat Abrams by 54,723 votes out of 3.9 million ballots cast.)
Kemp rolled into this year’s general election campaign with a mostly unified party behind him, a big fundraising machine at his disposal, and a track record of conservative wins. He cut the state gas tax at a time when much of the nation was hit with sky-high prices at the pump, expanded Medicaid services, albeit modestly, and courted black voters.
Kemp has gone on the offensive in his reelection bid, painting Abrams as an outsider using the governor’s race as a stepping stone for national office.
Kemp also told the Washington Examiner that Abrams is out of touch with Georgians who he claims thanked him for not backing down when he fought to keep businesses open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Abrams campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
“Both parties were criticizing me, but I just tell voters, ‘Look, that’s what I promised y’all I’d do,'” Kemp said. “‘I was fighting for you, and that’s what I told you I’d do when I was running, and that’s what I did whether you voted for me or not.'”
Kemp, who criticized federal COVID-19 relief money as wasteful, used it on local enforcement needs, rural broadband, and a $130 million cash infusion to Grady Health System to build nearly 200 additional hospital beds. As governor, Kemp had the unilateral authority to spend the money however he saw fit.
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Abrams and Kemp will go toe-to-toe on these topics and more when they meet Monday night for the first of two televised debates.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Georgia News Collaborative poll released this week showed Kemp with a double-digit lead over Abrams, who has outspent the governor 2-to-1.
