ATLANTA — Tax cuts coexisted with higher spending on education and health care when Democrats running for governor laid out their positions this week.
At a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and aired by Georgia Public Broadcasting on Monday, as early voters headed to the polls, several candidates said they would address affordability by changing Georgia taxes. Nearly all said they would update the formula that funds public schools. And nearly all said they would expand Medicaid, a move rejected by Republicans as too expensive.
The leading candidates also faced attacks by their competitors.
Jason Esteves, a former state senator and Atlanta school board chairman, attacked Keisha Lance Bottoms over public safety when she was mayor of Atlanta. He blamed her for the shooting death of Secoriea Turner, 8, in 2020 amid protests.
State Rep. Derrick Jackson, D-Tyrone, assailed Esteves over his vote for pro-charter school legislation last year when he was in the Senate.
Olu Brown, a pastor, fired at Geoff Duncan, who switched from Republican to Democrat after serving as lieutenant governor, excoriating him for backing legislation against transgender people. Duncan also took withering attacks over his former position against abortion. He said he had pivoted on both issues as he transitioned away from the GOP.
Mike Thurmond, former state lawmaker and labor commissioner who also ran the DeKalb County school system and then the county government, railed against the state sales tax. He said he would cut it in half, calling it the most painful form of taxation for people with low incomes.
Bottoms defended her leadership of Atlanta by saying she had raised police and firefighter pay while balancing the budget and building affordable housing.
Duncan said he could win the general election in November by rallying independent voters and “disgusted” Republicans. He pledged to have the most diverse cabinet of any governor in state history.
Esteves said he favored a property tax cut and would make commercial property owners pay what they owe.
Jackson said he would work to raise the minimum wage.
And Amanda Duffy, a self-described low-income Georgian, said she would change the state income tax from a flat 5.19% rate to an income-based bracket system like the federal government uses. She said she wanted the wealthy to pay a larger proportion of their income. She also said she would not accept full governor’s pay if elected.