ATLANTA – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams launched a statewide bus tour Tuesday, three weeks ahead of Election Day.
At a Mexican restaurant in southeastern Atlanta, Abrams told cheering supporters she wants put a $6.6 billion budget surplus to work meeting Georgians’ needs, not passing tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy, the approach taken by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and his GOP predecessors for the past two decades.
“For 20 years, we’ve been told there’s not enough money,” Abrams said. “We know we need education. We know we deserve health care. … It’s time to get rid of a governor willing to do less and less and hire a governor willing to do more.”
Abrams’ “Let’s Get It Done” bus tour began the day after she and Kemp appeared for one of two televised debates.
The governor argued the tax cuts the Republican-controlled General Assembly already has approved and additional reductions he will propose if reelected are the right approach because they put money into the hands of taxpayers who can decide for themselves how to use it.
Abrams also criticized Kemp’s positions on abortion and guns at Tuesday’s rally.
She said if she is elected governor next month, she will push to repeal the “heartbeat” abortion law, which bans abortion in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.
Kemp pushed the bill through the legislature three years ago. It took effect this summer following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision declaring abortion a constitutional right.
“We need a governor who believes bodily autonomy belongs to every person in Georgia,” Abrams said.
On guns, Abrams said the Kemp-backed legislation the General Assembly passed this year allowing Georgians to carry concealed firearms without a permit was the wrong way to go in a state plagued by gun violence. She said the governor pushed the bill for political expedience.
“We need a governor who is willing to strengthen our laws, not weaken them to win a primary,” she said.
Kemp has said he asked lawmakers to pass the heartbeat bill because it was in keeping with Georgia’s pro-life values.
He said the “constitutional carry” bill on guns would make it easier for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves against criminals who are going to be armed with or without a permit.
Abrams’ bus tour will continue Wednesday with stops in Lilburn, Athens, and Conyers. On Thursday, she will make stops in College Park and Columbus.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.