ATLANTA – Illegal immigration and abortion dominated a debate Sunday between the two candidates for Georgia’s open 3rd Congressional District seat.
Republican Brian Jack and Democrat Maura Keller each focused on the issue that has most galvanized their respective bases, immigration for Jack and abortion for Keller.
Jack, a former White House aide to then-GOP President Donald Trump, said the Trump administration secured the U.S. border with Mexico, only to see an influx of illegal immigrants after the Biden administration relaxed enforcement of immigration laws.
“Every district in the country is now a border district,” Jack said during a livestreamed candidate debate at the Atlanta studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Jack cited the murder of a 22-year-old nursing student killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, as an example of what can happen in an era of lax immigration enforcement.
“Laken Riley would still be a student at the University of Georgia if it were not for an illegal immigrant who took her life,” Jack said.
Keller cited the 2022 deaths of two Georgia women, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller, shortly after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban took effect as an example of what can happen to pregnant women following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.
Medical care for Thurman was delayed because her doctors were worried about violating Georgia’s abortion law, while Miller didn’t seek medical care due to the same concerns.
“[Whether to obtain an abortion] is the decision of the woman, her health-care provider, family, and spiritual adviser,” Keller said.
Keller, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, said the antiquated and understaffed Veterans Administration needs to be overhauled to provide better service to those who have served their country.
“Nobody should be on hold for 45 minutes only to be disconnected,” she said.
Jack said if he’s elected to Congress, he would push for moving some federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C.
“If you’re in Washington, D.C., you’ve got a 95% Democrat workforce,” he said. “If we move out of Washington, D.C., we can find better policy.”
But Keller said moving federal agencies away from the capital would be inefficient.
“We don’t need departments all over different time [zones],” she said. “When we need them, we need them now.”
Jack and Keller are vying for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point. Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District in west-central Georgia stretches from Paulding and Polk counties south to Columbus.