ATLANTA — Six candidates that will be on this November's ballot participated in a town hall at Clark Atlanta University, addressing questions voters want to know about.
Georgia's high-profile governor's race was well represented as Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams participated in the conversation hosted by The Black Radio United For The Vote. State School Superintendent candidate Alisha Thomas-Searcy, Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock, Secretary of State candidate Bee Nguyen, and Attorney General candidate Jen Jordan also participated.
All candidates running for statewide races were invited, according to event organizers, but Kemp was the only Republican.
The event was moderated by six radio anchors who asked candidates their own questions as well as questions submitted by constituents.
11Alive's Paola Suro attended the two-hour panel that touched on the closure of Wellstar AMC, healthcare, affordable housing and gun control.
Healthcare
Abrams was quick to lay out her healthcare platform, which surrounds a famous Democratic talking point: expanding Medicaid.
“In 38 states where they have expanded Medicaid, costs have gone down, health outcomes have gone down, health outcomes have gone up and almost not a single one of those states have lost a hospital," she said. "Georgia has lost 14 of them. The only correlation is that we won’t expand Medicaid."
Warnock, who is running for re-election, echoed Abrams' sentiment, adding that it's hurting Georgia's bottom line.
“Those hospitals would’ve had paying customers if Georgia expanded Medicaid," he said. "Not only is It an assault on our healthcare system – it means we’re losing jobs.”
Kemp responded saying there are 600,000 more people on Medicaid than when he first took office.
"If that was the silver bullet, that's certainly not working," he said. "This is a broken government program. Stacey Abrams isn't telling you she'll have to raise your taxes."
Affordable housing
When asked about affordable housing, Kemp drew on his experience as a builder and developer saying it's not a simple solution.
"I think that's something we need to have a continued conversation on," he said. "There is a way to do that - you're seeing more mixed-use with affordable housing. We stand ready to help with that issue."
Addressing the moderator's question about rent control - he said he is making sure Georgians, "have a good job with good pay where they can afford to pay rent."
"On rent control - I would not be for that," he said. "The private sector will pull out of those markets, you're not going to get anyone to come in and invest anymore."
He also pointed to inflation, rising property taxes, increasing food prices as factors when trying to create a sustainable economic plan.
"Instead of creating new government programs, we're taking that money like we did last year and we gave it back to you: our taxpayers," he said.
Abrams said she aims to create affordable housing for Black men, stating they have the most difficulty in accessing housing. Her hope is to also address homeownership and the unhoused crisis in the metro.
School safety
Superintendent of Schools Democratic candidate Thomas-Searcy addressed campus safety saying it is ultimately tied to the relationship between law enforcement and students.
"We need to have relationships with law enforcement, there needs to be more of a presence, but we need them to understand these are children - not adults on the street," she said.
She also hopes to support educators by creating an office dedicated to advocating for teachers that will be equipped with full-time staff to listen to them and give them resources. This is separate from her proposal to create an Office of Equity.
Kemp quickly addressed school safety as he took the podium, saying his approach is rooted in putting Georgians first.
"We supported the school systems and had their backs when they wanted to reopen," he said when asked about schools and COVID.
Gun control
The governor was asked extensively about Georgia's open carry law and gun violence. He said he's not rolling back the law.
"Guns are everywhere. It's the bad people," he said. "They don't care what the law is. I'm giving law-abiding citizens the ability to protect themselves."
He said the largest group of people buying legal weapons are African Americans and women.
"They are scared. People are tired. When you can't allow your children to pump gas or go to the grocery store - we have a problem," he said.
Voting rights
Attorney General candidate Jordan touched on why voting rights are deeply embedded in her platform.
"I filed the first challenge to the voter ID law in 2004," she said. "We were able to stop it that year. Now, I don't think people understand how significant that was to so many people."
Nguyen, who is running to be Georgia's next Secretary of State, said there shouldn't be so many barriers to casting a vote.
"No matter where you live in Georgia, the color of your skin, how much money you make - when you get to the ballot box, your vote counts exactly the same," she said.
Paola Suro has a Twitter thread with detailed updates on the event. People can also learn more about the candidates and what will be on the ballot by visiting 11alive.com/vote.