Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night over healthcare, crime, data centers and election security in what will likely be the only opportunity for voters to see the two candidates for governor side by side.
The town hall-style debate, organized by Atlanta News First and Atlanta-based Gray Media, is the only forum where both candidates were expected to face each other. Bottoms challenged Jackson to more debates, but the Republican only agreed to the one meeting.
But because of the town hall format, Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, and Jackson, a healthcare executive, weren’t allowed to address each other and could only respond to questions from Georgia voters who were undecided before the debate. That didn’t stop either candidate from issuing attacks in their responses, though.
Bottoms introduced herself in the town hall as an advocate for Georgians.
“While my opponent is running to enrich himself and be Trump’s favorite governor, I want to be yours, Georgia,” Bottoms said.