The candidates for Georgia governor will meet Monday, headlining a series of election debates meant to provide forums for candidates seeking other statewide offices and contested Georgia congressional races.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, Democrat Stacey Abrams and Libertarian Shane Hazel are scheduled to participate in the 7 p.m. debate.

>> 95.5 WSB will air the debate LIVE Monday night, with coverage beginning at 7 p.m.

The series, presented by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting in partnership with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also included a Georgia Senate debate on Sunday.

The series, presented by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting in partnership with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also included a Georgia Senate debate on Sunday.

That debate, which was moderated by 95.5 WSB’s Scott Slade, followed Friday’s highly anticipated debate between Warnock and Walker in Savannah.

The full debate schedules are available on The Atlanta Press Club Facebook page.

>> Download 95.5 WSB’s Mobile App to follow news about the 2022 midterms on the go.

Kemp rolled out a batch of crime proposals Monday, The Associated Press reports, signaling that could be a major theme of the debate.

The AP’s Jeff Amy adds that Kemp is proposing to “increase the prison sentence for recruiting youths under 18 into a gang to a minimum of 10 years from the current minimum of five years.” Amy reports that Kemp is also proposing to “make it harder for judges to release people who have been arrested without cash bail, saying judges should have to consider a person’s criminal history and to prohibit release without cash bail for people with a history of failing to appear in court.”

Both proposals, which would need to be approved by the state legislature before becoming law, are “likely to bring attacks from advocates for locking fewer people up in Georgia prisons,” Amy writes. “Kemp also wants to provide loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 for people who study to become police officers in the state and up to $100,000 for people who become medical examiners.”

Abrams has reportedly said she wants to use Monday’s debate to highlight her plans to “expand Medicaid, increase child care subsidies, raise teacher salaries, make housing more affordable and expand small business opportunities,” Amy explains.

“I’m going to talk to everyone about what’s at stake, what the opportunities are and why we haven’t received all of the benefits that Georgia is entitled to,” Abrams told The AP. “I want to make certain that I make the case that Brian Kemp doesn’t care, he won’t help, and that he spent the last four years attacking our freedoms.” Read more from The AP here.

The latest AJC and University of Georgia poll released last week showed Gov. Kemp with a significant lead over Stacey Abrams. The poll of more than a thousand respondents taken between Sept. 25 and Oct. 4 shows Kemp with a 51% to 41% lead over Abrams. Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel is polling at 2% and 6% are undecided.

With the general election less than a month away, the new poll shows Abrams has some work to do make up ground. Kemp’s lead in the previous AJC September poll was 8.

AJC-UGA POLL (1030 respondents between Sept. 25th-Oct. 4th)

Governor’s Race

  • Kemp (R): 51%
  • Abrams (D): 41%
  • Hazel (L): 2.3%
  • Undecided: 6%
  • Margin of error: 3.1%

U.S. Senate Race

  • Warnock (D): 46.4%
  • Walker (R): 43.4%
  • Oliver (L): 4.1%
  • Undecided: 6.1%
  • Margin of error: 3.1%

The Associated Press contributed to this article.


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