Here are 8 takeaways from Monday’s candidate debates in Georgia’s runoff election

The winners will claim their party’s nomination for the general election in November.

Here are eight takeaways from the second — and final — day of the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

Burt Jones sides with Brian Kemp

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ campaign for governor, is pressuring Republican-led states to redraw their political boundaries ahead of the November midterms.

But Jones sided with Brian Kemp on Monday, backing the governor’s decision to call lawmakers back for a special session targeting the 2028 races instead.

“I think the call that the governor made was justified,” Jones said, noting that early voting had already kicked off when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act and triggering the renewed call for redistricting.

“He accomplished both things — we got through the primaries, and we’re going to go back in and redraw the lines,” he said. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

Where was Rick Jackson?

Credit: Patricia Murphy

Credit: Patricia Murphy

Jones shared the stage with an empty lectern Monday. That’s because his GOP runoff rival, billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson, skipped the debate and instead spoke to about 500 supporters in Cobb County at an event with Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Jackson did not mention the debate, and the people who came out to see him did not seem to care.

“I don’t care to hear everybody arguing,” said Carol Craton from Kennesaw, who said she wanted to hear from Jackson directly. “I don’t like to watch debates.”

Jackson participated in the first Atlanta Press Club debate last month, where he stumbled over a question about immigration that made it into a Jones attack ad.

“That’s probably the reason why he’s not here now,” Jones said.

Jones says he’s proud of Georgia’s abortion law

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Jones was among the state lawmakers who voted in favor of Georgia’s 2019 law outlawing abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected — or around six weeks of pregnancy.

After initially dodging questions Monday on whether he would support changes to the state’s abortion restrictions as governor, Jones said he supports the law as it stands.

“The law has been challenged on many different levels, and I am proud of the work we did in 2019,” Jones said.

Georgia’s law took effect in July 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the constitutional right to abortion. A challenge is pending in the Georgia Supreme Court arguing the law violates the state constitution’s privacy protections.

An intense moment in the labor commissioner debate

Nikki Porcher, a Democrat running for labor commissioner, accused her opponent Michelle “Michi” Sanchez of sharing “campaign content containing repeated racially offensive slurs.”

Porcher was referring to an Instagram story that Sanchez recently shared showing her working on Latino outreach for the Democratic Party of Georgia in 2021, standing in front of a bus with a photo of now U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The temporary post included the song “Let’s Go” from rapper Key Glock, which includes the n-word. Sanchez told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution it is her campaign theme song.

“That song contains explicit lyrics, as many hip-hop songs do,” she said in an email. “I did not write those lyrics, I did not say those lyrics, and I do not use that word.”

Porcher is a nonprofit leader and Sanchez a community organizer. They are competing to face Republican incumbent Bárbara Rivera Holmes, who secured the GOP nomination unopposed.

Do debates still matter?

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

It wasn’t that long ago that politicians would jump at the chance for 30 minutes of free airtime two weeks before an election. But Monday’s debates showed that could be going out of style.

Three candidates didn’t show up, leaving their opponents talking to empty lecterns. All three cited “scheduling conflicts.”

The most prominent no-show was Jackson in the Republican race for governor.

Joyce Griggs, a Democrat running in the 1st Congressional District, and Keisha Sean Waites, a Democrat running for insurance commissioner, also skipped the debates.

A big swing in insurance commissioner race

Democrat DeAndre Mathis had the stage all to himself on Monday in the Democratic debate for insurance commissioner. He used it to take a big swing at one of the governor’s signature achievements.

Mathis called for the repeal of Kemp’s law that overhauled the state’s civil litigation rules last year, which many under the Gold Dome refer to as “tort reform.”

“I believe tort reform under this administration was implemented so they can have a legal way to discriminate against folks,” Mathis said. “This tort reform law has to be reversed.”

Mathis is competing with Waites for the chance to face Republican Insurance Commissioner John King in November. King has said the law has resulted in “real savings for the taxpayer.”

A showdown of experience vs. change

Incumbent Richard Woods fell just shy of the 50% of the vote needed to again win the Republican nomination for a fourth term as state schools superintendent.

His runoff opponent, Candler County Superintendent Fred “Bubba” Longgrear, said Monday that shows voters want change in public education.

“Our incumbent’s been in office for 12 years, and I feel like that we need some new leadership that’s willing to collaborate, work with others, and really take Georgia to a bright future,” he said.

Woods framed himself as “a leader with real results and real action.”

“I am an individual who not only talks the talk but walks the walk.”

The veteran schools chief pushed back hard against criticism that he had been difficult to work with as the state legislature passed a literacy overhaul earlier this year.

Longgrear, who serves as president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, received just 29% of the vote in the primary. But he has won several endorsements from Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Jon Burns.

Deleted Trump tweets

John Cowan, who received the most votes in the Republican primary in Georgia’s 11th Congressional District, was asked to explain his now-deleted social media profile that included plenty of criticism of Trump.

Cowan is in the runoff against Rob Adkerson, who is the longtime chief of staff to the outgoing incumbent, U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who decided against seeking another term.

Cowan didn’t deny he made the anti-Trump posts, but said that he is fully aligned with the president now.

“I’m 100% behind President Trump,” he said. “He’s the most transformational president of my lifetime.”

Adkerson said he was running as a continuation of Loudermilk but wants to be more willing to speak out on conservative issues.

“We’re going to continue to fight, and we’re going to continue the progress that we’ve made over that 11 years,” he said.