Business leaders, state and federal elected officials, and community leaders packed the Macon Marriott City Center Tuesday to hear Gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp talk about their vision for Georgia’s economic future during the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Congressional luncheon.
This marked the first time both candidates have appeared together in the same venue since this year’s primary and runoff elections. While their visions and delivery differed, both talked about economic development, jobs, infrastructure, rural Georgia and education.
They spoke in alphabetical order, and that’s how they appear here.
Stacey Abrams, Democrat nominee
Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House Minority Leader, focused on several issues that she sees as critical to ensure Georgia’s future prosperity.
“I understand that we have three responsibilities,” said Abrams. “To educate bold and ambitious children from cradle to career if we want to create the workforce for the 21st Century. I know that we have to build a thriving and diverse economy for all 159 counties in Georgia, not just the 12 metro counties, and we have to have an engaged and effective government.”
As for education, Abrams said she is proposing a “strong and ambitious plan that will help re-train and re-set our expectations for our children.” Abrams said her plan includes fully funding Georgia’s education. “I am pleased that we fully funded education this year, but that’s just the beginning, not the end.”
Abrams said the current funded formula is outdated and ignores the diversity and complexity of Georgia. “We have to recognize the deep connection between poverty and graduation rates in Georgia. We know in our state that we have a 20 percent poverty rate and that means we have children coming to school hungry, can’t see the chalkboard, can’t hear the teacher and have mental health challenges that make it hard to focus.”
As for economic development, Abrams said she wants to invest in “financial wellness, financial literacy, improving credit scores, housing access and all the pieces that make the community stronger.”
Abrams also spoke on expanding Medicaid. “This is an economic opportunity the likes that we that we will never see again. We are forfeiting $8 million a day since 2014. This is about the economic return that is critical to our rural counties,” she said. “We know that we have seven hospitals in Georgia that have closed since 2013.”
She also talked about the importance of Infrastructure and transit, and said she wants to make sure Georgia is doing everything it can for active military and veterans.
Brian Kemp, Republican nominee
Brian Kemp, Georgia’s current Secretary of State, opened his remarks by talking about the values he learned while playing football under legendary coach Billy Henderson in Athens– where he learned “the value of hard work, the value of telling the truth, of being straight-forward with people, keeping your word and doing the right thing when no one was watching.”
After talking about his early background, Kemp told the crowd he and his wife know what it’s like to struggle. “We lived in spec houses that wouldn’t sell, we lived in a double-wide trailer on her parents’ property when those spec houses finally did sell. We literally lived like many people day-to-day during the recession and at times thought we were going to lose everything that we had.”
He explained that like many other Americans, they “kept chopping” despite the challenges. “I never imagined that I would be on this stage as the Republican nominee for governor,” Kemp said.
Kemp said he ran for office initially because he was fed up with government overreach and regulations. He went on to say that in his role as a Senator and as Secretary of State, “I have fought hard every single day and we have won. But most importantly, we have put people above politics.
“And that is exactly why I am running for Governor — to put Georgians first. And that starts with building off the things Governor Deal has accomplished — 650,000 private sector jobs, balanced budgets, $2.3 billion in our reserves, No. 1 for business five years in a row.
“These are remarkable accomplishments by a remarkable leader. As Governor, I will carry on Nathan Deal’s legacy but make no mistake, I will not rest on our laurels. We will march forward. And that is what you are voting on this November.”
While Georgia has been named the No. 1 state in the country to do business for the past five years, Kemp wants to expand this. He plans to make Georgia the No. 1 state in the country for small business.
“As governor, we will cut regulations that make it harder to hire, expand and invest in this great state. We will make Georgia the small business capital of our country,” Kemp said.
Kemp said he plans to strengthen rural Georgia, support criminal justice reform, grow economic development opportunities and fully fund public education. As for infrastructure, Kemp said he would look at “innovative ideas,” and would “always work with communities who want to help themselves.”
He also said as Georgia’s next Governor, he would take on healthcare to lower costs and improve access for everyone.
He also promised to “dismantle street gangs and the Mexican drug cartels that are flooding our streets with drugs, violence and fear.”
Note: The Chamber did not endorse a candidate in the Governor’s race but announced several statewide endorsements: Mark Butler for Labor Commissioner, Chris Carr for Attorney General, and Gary Black for Agriculture Commissioner.
