This week, Rick Jackson made clear he will dodge the GOP debate for governor, opting instead to stay in his billionaire bunker rather than answer questions about his record. Both GOP candidates are fully embracing their extreme records and going full scorched earth on one another as they slog through this bruising Republican run-off, all while Keisha Lance Bottoms is laser-focused on lowering costs, expanding healthcare, and making life better for Georgians.
Here’s the latest on the vicious GOP battle for governor:
JACKSON TO DODGE DEBATE, HIDE OUT IN BILLIONAIRE BUNKER: On Thursday, the AJC reported that Jackson had officially declined to participate in next week’s Atlanta Press Club debate, refusing to face questions about his record and the issues facing Georgians.
- This comes after Jackson faced intense scrutiny in the first debate, and when he was pressed about his employment practices he gave an answer that can only be described as “one of the truly bad answers in recent debate history.” (The AJC’s Patricia Murphy said it, we didn’t).
- In response, Jones has viciously attacked Jackson, accusing him of “dodging debates” and saying that he won’t get up on stage with “no teleprompters, no notecards, and no consultants.” He added, “those are the three things that he’s dependent on.”
- With Jackson out, Jones will stand alongside an empty podium to spout his extreme cost-raising, job-killing MAGA agenda with Georgia voters.
JONES AND JACKSON ARE ALL-IN ON ELECTION DENIAL: On Wednesday, The New York Times reported on Jones’ long record of overturning the will of Georgia voters, calling him a “true believer” who “would not accept the president’s defeat.”
- The New York Times analyzed Jones’ long record trying to overturn elections, writing that in his campaign for governor, Jones “presents his considerable efforts to overturn [Trump’s] election loss in 2020 as a badge of honor.”
- This comes as Jackson has also worked to highlight his extreme record, with NYT calling him “a brash, pro-Trump billionaire” and who POLITICO previously reported as someone who was “adamant” on the campaign trail that the election had been stolen.
RHETORIC RATCHETS UP AS JONES AND JACKSON GO SCORCHED EARTH: The battle between Jones and Jackson is getting nastier and nastier, and the two have gone full scorched earth on one another with weeks left to go in this bruising Republican run-off.
- At an event in Roswell on Tuesday, Jones labeled Jackson someone who “woke up one morning and decided they want to buy a shiny new toy called the state of Georgia.”
- In a new ad, Jackson accused Jones of benefiting from taking Georgians’ land through eminent domain, which comes after months of brutal attacks over corruption in which they have sparred over who’s enriched themselves the most on the taxpayers’ dime.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Jones and Jackson are both way too extreme and out-of-touch with Georgians. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported on Jones’ long record of election denialism, writing that Jackson is “a brash, pro-Trump billionaire” and “though Mr. Jones’s ironclad pro-Trump résumé should help him in the Republican runoff next month, it could drag him down in a general election as voters are unhappy about soaring inflation and the unpopular war in Iran.” Bring it on.
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