Savannah Morning News
Key Points
- Early voting data shows Georgia Democrats leading Republicans in turnout for the Governor’s race.
- Attorney General Chris Carr is urging Republicans to vote, calling the current poll numbers a “wake up call.”
- Carr is campaigning on issues like jobs, safety, and affordability to attract independent voters.
Latest poll results from the state’s election page show Democrats in Georgia are taking charge in the Governor’s race as 144,489 have cast their ballot as of May 4, while Republicans have logged 115,008 votes.
Attorney General Chris Carr visited Rincon Tuesday in Effingham County in an attempt to rally Republicans who are lagging behind their Democratic counterparts at the ballot box.
In front of a small crowd at El Real Mexican Restaurant, residents in Effingham County came out to hear his campaign pitch. Prior to the start of the event in a separate interview, Carr said the current poll should be a “wake-up call” for Republicans in Georgia.
“My Republican colleagues, we got to get out and vote,” Carr said. “I think it absolutely should be a wake-up call that Republicans need to get to the polls now. I also know Republicans like to get to the polls on Election Day. I remind folks Democrats have now won six times in the last six years for statewide elections.”
There are 15 candidates on the ballot, including seven Democrats in Keisha Lance Bottoms, Olu Brown, Amanda Duffy, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Derrick Jackson and Mike Thurmond.
Chris Carr, Clark Dean, Gregg Kirkpatrick, Rick Jackson, Burt Jones, Brad Raffensperger, Ken Yasger and Tom Williams make up the Republican field. According to reporting by USA Today, Georgia voters set new voting records as more than 35,000 took to the polls Day One of early voting, which kicked off April 27. Carr hopes to pull away from a stacked Republican field long before Nov. 3.
Carr, who also made a stop in Richmond Hill Tuesday morning, is urging voters in Bryan and Effingham Counties to get to the polls sooner than later, as both struggle with low voter turnout. During the 2022 governors race, Bryan County saw just 17,006 voters while Effingham County had 25,398. Carr said he hopes to attract independent voters who are tired of the day-to-day feuding between political parties who have gotten away from issues everyday Americans are facing.
Georgia has seen a number of high-profile races come down to the wire.
On Dec. 6, 2022, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock defeated former University of Georgia standout Herschel Walker by 2.8% of the vote during the General Election state senate race. The governors’ race has also been highly contested, with Brian Kemp defeating Stacey Abrams in 2018 by 1.39% and again in 2022 by 7.53%.
“The only way to win the race is to go out there and appeal to that independent voter,” said Carr. “The primary has to be about winning in November. It can’t just be about winning on May 19. And if we’re going to do that, we’ve got to focus on the issues of jobs, safety, education, affordability and candidate quality. And I think when you look at my experience, my background, my record and my vision, I’ll put my conservative record up against anybody. I appeal to the independent voter and if we want Republicans to keep the governor’s mansion, then I’m the candidate.”During the event, Carr spoke to key issues Georgians are facing, including high property taxes, which he says are becoming a major point of conversation across the state.
“The legislature has capped the assessments – I think we got to look at the overall amount of property tax to make sure that there’s certainty for lower income, first time home buyers and fixed-income [folks] in particular, while also recognizing local governments have to deal with education and services and having flexibility there,” said Carr.
The Attorney General also spoke to crime, saying the number of trains and trucks that have been robbed have accounted for a loss of $3 billion, which cut into the state’s retail industry.
“There’s a lot of overseas organized crime activity and we’re focusing on that,” said Carr. “But in this state, we Republicans and conservatives have said, ‘Not on our watch,’ and we should be very, very proud of that.”
Staying in stride with Gov. Brian Kemp’s frequent messaging regarding Georgia’s workforce, Carr said he will continue to blaze the trail set by Governors of times past, prioritizing workforce development. According to Carr, the private sector created “84,000 jobs, $14 billion in investments“when he served under former Gov. Nathan Deal as Commissioner of Economic Development.
“The reason I’m running for Governor is we’re the model for the nation and I want to stay that way,” said Carr. “Every day I wake up as governor, a job is going to be at the forefront of my mind. And when you talk about jobs, you got to talk about workforce…I truly believe in the transformative nature of a job, whether it’s transforming families or it’s transforming communities or our state, we saw great success.”
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
