Lieutenant governor’s race heats up as candidates spar over public safety, healthcare, Trump

With early voting already underway across the state, the race to be Georgia’s next lieutenant governor is becoming increasingly contentious as the two candidates strive to appeal to undecided voters — and explain why their opponent is the wrong choice.

Both men are members of the state Senate with reputations for being outspoken and unafraid to advocate for their beliefs on the Senate floor. But that’s where the similarities end. 

Georgia voters kick off early voting with nearly 189,000 ballots cast

The Democratic candidate, Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs, is running as a consensus candidate, and has touted his ability to work alongside Republicans in the state Legislature even he advocates for policies like expanding Medicaid, repealing the state’s six-week abortion ban and raising the state’s minimum wage.

The Republican, Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, has centered his campaign around more traditional conservative goals like cutting state income and property taxes and expanding Georgia’s school voucher program. He has also incorporated culture war issues into his campaign, such as pledging to oppose sharia law, religious rules for how Muslims live and worship. (The Congressional Research Service reported back in 2012 that “religious laws have no legally binding effect on U.S. citizens because religious laws cannot be adopted by federal, state or local governments under the First Amendment.”) 

During a pair of debates this week hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and 11Alive, the two candidates sharpened their attacks and spent much of their time pushing each other to defend their political records.

In both instances, Dolezal sought to cast McLaurin as being out of step with members of the Democratic party on issues like public safety and criminal justice reform.

“I respect that he firmly believes what he believes, but what he believes belongs in California,” Dolezal said. “It doesn’t belong here in Georgia.”

McLaurin, in turn, has repeatedly questioned Dolezal about his ties to President Donald Trump, accusing him of revamping his website after the primary runoff election to make references to Trump less prominent. He also criticized an AI-generated ad Dolezal published during the Republican primary that depicted Muslims terrorizing white Georgia residents, characterizing him as “the Mike Collins of this race.”

“He may be a state-level politician, but he is bringing MAGA and Trumpism to Georgia,” McLaurin said.

On healthcare, the two candidates again took opposing positions. McLaurin pledged to fully expand Medicaid, arguing that Georgia’s current policies leave too many people uninsured and struggling with healthcare costs.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people in Georgia who do not have coverage and have to make decisions about fixing a car [or] getting something checked out at the doctor,” he said, adding that rural Georgia has been hit particularly hard by declining healthcare coverage rates. He also criticized Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature Pathways to Coverage program, arguing that it “gave more money to Deloitte consultants than it did for care.”

Rick Jackson pledges ‘intelligent’ Medicaid expansion, but offers few specifics

Dolezal, on the other hand, said he backs an “intelligent” Medicaid expansion plan introduced by Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson, arguing that fully expanding Medicaid would result in some Georgians being forced off their private insurance and onto a state-run insurance plan.

“What we do not need to do is move people from private plans that they have through their employer or through the exchange onto the government plan,” he said.

Dolezal also criticized McLaurin’s record on public safety as being “soft on crime,” questioning his opposition to a 2020 proposal that would have required registered sex offenders to post warning signs on their house during Halloween.

“Josh McLaurin, alongside Keisha Lance Bottoms, when it comes to public safety, will be like pouring gasoline on a Wendy’s fire,” Dolezal said, referencing a period of unrest in Atlanta during 2020.

McLaurin pushed back, arguing that he declined to support the measure because it would have violated the Constitution and likely lead to costly litigation.

“We know when federal courts have already ruled against some of these laws, and we know when we’re walking into lawsuits where we’re going to have to spend taxpayer money,” he said. “At the end of the day, taxpayers have to pay the bill when we do unconstitutional things.”

McLaurin added that he supported what he calls common sense criminal justice reforms like those implemented by former Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican.

“I’m in line with the moderate Republican take on criminal legal reform, which is it needs to be smart, it needs to be thoughtful, it needs to actually protect us, invest in public safety, invest in police officers and their pensions, but not engage in this crazy politics that’s just fearmongering,” he said.

While the national political landscape appears to be tilting towards Democrats, Georgia’s statewide races remain more difficult to gauge, experts say. Recent polls show Jackson with a slight edge over Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms. 

No major polls have been conducted for the lieutenant governor’s race, but Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie said that unlike the top of the ticket, where independent or split-ticket voters may be the deciding factor in the race, the success of down-ballot candidates will likely depend on which party can more successfully motivate their voters to turn out and vote all the way down the ticket.

Early voting is underway in Georgia. Here’s where you can cast a ballot in your county.

“I don’t expect that split-ticket voting is going to be so much the factor in [the lieutenant governor’s] race so much as it is attrition,” she said. Although Republican voters still outnumber Democrats across the state, Democrats may have the advantage this year when it comes to voter enthusiasm, Gillespie added.

“I think the closeness of those contests is going to reveal how well Democrats, in particular, were at being able to mobilize voters to participate in all of the elections and not just the top two,” she said.

Early voting for the midterm elections in Georgia has already begun, and runs until Oct. 30. Voters can locate their polling place at the secretary of state’s My Voter Page or by using the Georgia Recorder’s early voting map.