Governor candidate Kemp, on swing through Chatsworth, promotes promise of Georgia teacher raises

Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp exits his bus to talk to North Georgia supporters Monday afternoon in Chatsworth.
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp exits his bus to talk to North Georgia supporters Monday afternoon in Chatsworth.
photo Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, center, talks to North Georgia supporters Monday afternoon in Chatsworth. U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, left, joined him at the rally as his wife, Marty, applauds, far right.

CHATSWORTH, Ga. - Republican candidate Brian Kemp touted his plan to raise teacher salaries during a swing through Northwest Georgia on Monday.

"We're going to work to make sure that we have real local control with less testing, less mandates and - for goodness sake - pay our teachers more money," Kemp told a crowd of about 100 in Murray County.

Kemp, who is running for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams in the Nov. 6 election, cited a Georgia Department of Education report that said 44 percent of the state's public school teachers leave the profession within five years. He announced the planned pay raises last week.

His proposal would cost about $600 million, which represents 2.3 percent of the state's fiscal year 2019 budget. So far, he has not fleshed out exactly how he would fund the boost in spending. But he said his policy team is "absolutely positive" they can provide the raises while also cutting taxes.

He cited the state's typical annual growth of $900 million. But of that money, a large chunk will go toward schools through the Quality Basic Education funding formula. Another large chunk will go toward Medicaid as the state's population rises.

"I've talked to people," Kemp said Monday, "and there's more than one that say, 'With increased competition and using private sector solutions, we can lower Medicaid costs.' A lot of money. We're going to get in there. We're going to start working on things. That's putting Georgians first ahead of special interests."

Asked what specific solutions he would bring to drive down Medicaid costs, Kemp said, "Just allow more people to compete. That's what I do every day in the private sector."

Last week, Abrams told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board that Kemp will not follow through with that plan.

"He cannot be trusted, and you cannot verify that he's going to do it," she said, according to the newspaper. "But you can look at my record as a legislator and as a candidate and see I've been consistent in my push for increasing pay for teachers."

The candidates are in a tight race, according to a poll by Landmark Communications released Monday. Among likely Georgia voters, Kemp leads 48-46, with Libertarian Ted Metz taking the other 2 percent of the vote. The poll includes a margin of error of 3 percent, enough to swing the race.

Kemp's roll through Northwest Georgia included stops in Dawson, Pickens, Fannin and Gilmer counties before he pulled into Chatsworth around 3:30 p.m. He followed that stop with a Whitfield County fundraiser in Dalton at 5:30 p.m. He will continue his bus tour throughout the state this week, beginning in Floyd County at Rome at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Monday's stops were in politically friendly areas. According to the Cook Political Report, Georgia's 14th Congressional District - which covers the northwest corner of the state - is the 10th-most conservative territory in the country.

In Chatsworth, Kemp and U.S. Rep. Tom Graves attacked Abrams for lacking what they described as "Georgia values."

"This is an election about the people coming out to vote," Graves said. "Unfortunately, Hollywood and New York and the liberals are just dropping in – I mean, literally air-dropping money into the state of Georgia, trying to buy this election. But we can overcome that."

" There's such a great contrast here. You put Brian Kemp up against a socialist. What are we going to do? We're going to Brian Kemp, right?"

The crowd cheered.

Deposition

During the Republican primary, Kemp described himself as a "politically incorrect conservative" willing to speak boldly about hot-button issues such as gun control and immigrants who came to the United States illegally. But in a deposition in a civil lawsuit recently released, Kemp dodged many questions.

Rick Phillips, a Toccoa businessman, sued Kemp in May 2017 over an unpaid $500,000 loan. On behalf of Hart AgStrong, a company that he invested in, Kemp recruited Phillips to provide two loans worth about $1.1 million.

The company repaid the first loan, worth $600,000, within a month. In January 2016, according to the lawsuit, Kemp signed a "personal guarantee agreement" to ensure Phillips received the other $500,000, with an interest rate of about $4,000 a month. The loan was due in October. It was not paid.

AgStrong's attorneys have argued that they have not actually defaulted on the loan. Kemp's team, meanwhile, has said his guarantee expired when Phillips extended the loan's due date. The case is pending.

But during a July deposition, which a judge recently ruled should be open to the public, Kemp did not answer many questions from Phillips' attorneys about the details of the case. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter estimated Kemp provided answers including "I don't know" or "I don't remember" to 91 questions about the details about AgStrong and the loan. (A columnist for the newspaper, reviewing the deposition, put the estimate of such answers at 158.)

On Monday, Kemp argued that the lawsuit is not as important as Abrams' tax record. She has deferred about $50,000 in federal taxes this year.

"I can't speak to the lawsuit right now," Kemp said. "I'll let that process go forward. But it's the company that owes the debt. The company has a lot of information to the questions [Phillips' attorneys] were asking. I wouldn't have people pre-judge something that I have 8 percent stake in. It's a small investment. The press doesn't talk about other people guaranteeing that note - only me because I'm running for governor, which is fine."

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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