Hello, I am Veronica Waters, anchor and reporter at WSB radio.

Welcome to the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series from the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The 2026 debate series was made possible by grants to the Atlanta Press Club from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Robert Charles Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for candidates running for Georgia Attorney General.

We have two journalists who will question the candidates.

Charmaine Crews is the criminal justice reporter at WABE in Atlanta.

Brendan Keefe is the chief investigator for Atlanta News First.

I am going to kick off today's debate, asking each of the candidates to introduce themselves and tell viewers why they should be the next attorney general of Georgia.

Candidates will have 60s to introduce themselves.

We will go in alphabetical order, starting with Tanya Miller.

Thank you so much.

I'm Tanya Miller.

Georgia.

And I'm running to be your Attorney General.

I'm a working class kid from a working class family.

I grew up one paycheck away from disaster.

Like so many Georgians, I became a lawyer to be the advocate that my family needed.

I became a prosecutor to protect people.

I have used my law degree for the better part of two decades as a sword and a shield for working people.

As a prosecutor, a civil rights lawyer, and a lawmaker.

These are the things that I have prioritized when I am your next attorney general, we are going to crack down on violent crime from a place of deep experience, tackle the corporations that are ripping off families, and keeping the prices of groceries high.

We are going to do this because this is what we are entitled to.

Georgians deserve an attorney general with experience who will stand up to Donald Trump, the powerful, and anybody who takes on working families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And Brian Strickland, you may now introduce yourself.

Thank you, Veronica, and thank you so much for joining us today.

I'm Brian Strickland.

I spent nearly two decades as an attorney fighting in courtrooms, trying hundreds of cases, representing people in cases where the government is trying to take their land, going in, prosecuting elder abuse, and also standing up for parents and grandparents, for custody and visitation rights.

From that same time, I served as a state senator and state representative, and I took on big issues partnering with Governor Kemp and First Lady Kemp to take on human trafficking to take down gangs and go after those bringing fentanyl to our state.

At the same time, I led on criminal justice reform and mental health reform, and I stood up for working families fighting for child care affordability.

I carried the bill that doubled our time for maternal leave in our state, and also increase access to sick leave for private workers in our state.

If you want an attorney general to do more than talk the political talk, we'll fight every single day for Georgia families.

I'm your candidate and I love to earn your vote.

Thank you so much for those introductions and for the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now ask a question to an individual candidate.

Some of these are pretty weighty issues, and so they may be asking the same questions of both candidates.

We're going to start with Charmaine Cruz, who will ask a question for Brian Strickland.

Once again, you've got 60s for your response.

Senator Strickland, thank you so much for being here.

In your opening statements, you outlined several priorities.

Which single, measurable goal should voters use to judge your success, especially if you decide to seek reelection?

The biggest thing right now is in deciding who should be the next attorney general is to look at our record.

You have two lawmakers running for this position, two people that have served significant amount of time in the General Assembly.

Also, two private attorneys as well.

But if you want to know what you're going to get from one of us as an attorney general, look at our records.

Look at what we've done.

As I mentioned in my opening statement, there's different types, legislators, there's workhorses, and there's show horses.

I've been a workhorse.

I've led on significant issue after significant issue.

Under the Gold Dome.

And that is why the governor Governor Kemp supported me.

First Lady Marty Kemp supported me.

And that's why law enforcement backs me.

I've got every major law enforcement organization in our state that's waiting.

This race has endorsed me.

This race, over 100 elected law enforcement officials, Democrats and Republicans have endorsement in this race because they know my record and someone will stand up for them.

And I do take on the tough fights when things get tough.

You.

Brendan Keefe, please ask a question for Tanya Miller.

Yes, we're going to start with Tanya Miller.

But this question is for both candidates.

Police departments across Georgia are using AI powered automated license plate reader cameras to collect information about ordinary citizens, arguing that people have little expectation of privacy on public roads.

Yet when the public and journalists request audit logs showing how that information is used and the surveillance power of this mass surveillance, some departments are refusing to release them.

A voter in Dunwoody, Jason Junior, was quoted.

More than a half $1 million to see those logs in his city.

Meanwhile, Eastpointe police claimed an officer's internal affairs interview about Flock misuse was exempt under HIPAA, and the Hall County Sheriff's Office said one of its deputies accused of misusing Flock had an expectation of privacy during his internal affairs interview, keeping it secret from the public and from us.

How can the people and the press hold police accountable for misuse of surveillance technology?

If the departments themselves control whether the evidence of that misuse becomes public?

And what would you do as Attorney General?

Thank you for that question, and thank you for all the work you've done on this important topic.

This is what I will say to this issue, and I've said it multiple times.

Surveilling citizens is not what this technology is supposed to be used for.

This technology is supposed to be used for solving crimes, but with incredible power comes incredible responsibility.

I was a homicide prosecutor, a sex crimes prosecutor.

We relied on videotape evidence.

We relied on technology to solve crimes and to do them quickly.

But what we cannot have are departments who are not effectively responding to the public.

We cannot have private companies having control of this information.

The attorney general's job is to enforce the Open Records Act.

I wrote an op ed on this very topic where I laid out clearly what I would do as an attorney general.

When these records exist.

They are public records.

There are exceptions.

They are limited.

They are limited for a reason, because this belongs to the public.

So if you're asking what the attorney General can do, the attorney general can enforce the Open Records Act.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And now, Brendan, it's your turn to ask Brian Strickland a question.

Yes.

Senator Strickland, same question to you.

Also balancing this with the fact that the technology is catching murderers, rapists, kidnappers, returning lost children.

Is that something you'd want to take away from the police, or would you like to add more guardrails?

No.

If you look at why we have Flock cameras to start with, there were three students in Georgia Tech.

They realize and are soft on crime policies in Atlanta.

They were living under that.

They were doing a better job with these cameras and catching criminals than the police were doing at that time.

That led to the creation of Flock cameras.

That's why it was so important that we eliminated the idea that you will have cashless bail, something that Mayor Bottoms ran on, something my opponent opposed.

She voted against a bill that would eliminate no cash bail in our state.

And at the same time, though, we have to have parameters on this technology.

If the private company will not act and put the parameters in place to make sure it's not misused, make sure we can catch bad actors.

I'll act as attorney general.

I'll make sure we move forward with that.

Lastly, you talk about open records.

What I want to do is attorney general create an open records task force.

Yes, we're currently tasked with enforcing open record laws in our state, but it should be a dedicated task force we have in this office to make sure that people have sunshine on all levels of government.

Make sure you get a uniform response from agencies, local governments.

When individuals are requesting records.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Charmaine.

You've got the last question of the round for Tanya Miller.

Staying on this topic of transparency after Tennessee's recent botched execution of Christa Pike, I'd like to know where you stand on the death penalty and whether you'd support changing Georgia's rules on what the media is allowed to see and hear during the execution process, such as the delivery of the lethal injection drugs, equipment checks and IV insertion.

Well, thank you for that question.

Obviously, the death penalty is legal in Georgia in the General Assembly this past session, actually, the past couple sessions, we have had discussions about are there ways that we should limit the death penalty to include whether or not we should be executing folks who are mentally incompetent?

I think those conversations are good.

They belong in the General Assembly, where policies are made.

As the Attorney General, your job is to prosecute cases.

Your job is to enforce the law.

I am the only prosecutor in this race.

While my opponent talks tough on crime, the fact of the matter is he has never stood in a courtroom and stood down a murderer.

He has never sent a human trafficker to prison.

He has never tackled rape, child abuse, international narcotics distribution in communities.

I am the only person who has done that.

He spent half his campaign campaigning to be Donald Trump's lawyer.

I'm running to be the people's lawyer.

The attorney general is the chief prosecutor, and sitting in a committee room is not the same thing as prosecuting cases.

I respond to that.

All right.

Thanks so much.

I'm going to give, uh, Mr.

Strickland 30s for a rebuttal.

Yes, representative.

I know that you want Tanya Miller to be our next attorney general, but if you look at who law enforcement wants, if you go and ask law enforcement officials across our state, Republicans and Democrats, if you ask the major law enforcement groups, both big organizations have weighed in on our race, they will tell you they want Brian Strickland to be the next attorney general because, representative, you didn't show up when they asked for a bill to give them tools to go after those recruiting kids to join our gangs, you didn't show up when they asked for more tools to go after fentanyl.

That's killing so many people in our state.

You haven't been there when law enforcement needed you.

And that's why I support me in this race.

All right.

Thank you so much.

That's your time.

That's going to conclude our first round here.

Each candidate will now get a chance to ask a question of their opponent.

You're going to have 30s to ask the question 60s to respond.

And the person who asked the question will get a 32nd rebuttal.

Brian Strickland, please ask a question of Tanya Miller.

Representative you have a reputation under the Gold Dome.

Their reputation is being very partisan and being a protester, for example, we had a bill.

We had to pass two years ago that said, we're not going to use taxpayer dollars to pay for sex change surgeries for convicted felons in our prison system.

Bipartisan bill.

When the bill came to the House, she led a protest at the state Capitol against that bill.

The only time I've ever seen a protest out of the state House against a bill.

They went back in and voted against it.

Given your reputation, can you tell us, despite all that, in four years as a state representative, can you tell us one bill that you passed that became law?

Uh, Senator Strickland, you can distort my record all you want.

You can attack my reputation, all you want to do.

But the truth of the matter is, is that you're in the majority party.

The majority party controls which bills get heard, which bills come to the floor, and which bills get the opportunity to come before the public.

I introduced legislation to take on the insurance industry, ripping off Georgia families.

I introduced legislation to protect pregnant workers.

I introduced legislation to make sure that small businesses have an opportunity to compete on equal footing.

So, with all due respect, if you want to own your reputation down at the state Capitol, what you should own is how the state has underfunded public safety for decades.

The prisons are overrun with street gangs.

The street gangs are committing crimes outside of the prisons.

We don't have rape kits being tested.

We don't have enough prosecutors in the office.

We don't have enough scientists at the GBI.

So with all due respect to you, the chair of the Senate Judiciary and Appropriations, I think you should talk about what you've done down at the Capitol.

All right.

And time for your rebuttal.

And I continue to do that.

And look what you heard.

There's four years in office.

She's led protests.

She's voted against bills.

She's given speeches.

Not one bill that she's carried that's become law.

I've carried over 100 bills that have become law.

And the idea that Democrats don't pass bills isn't true.

One of the most bills I'm most proud of was the hate Crimes Law Help author back in 2020, bringing a hate crimes law to our state.

I work with Democrats who sponsored that bill to get that passed.

It's not just Republicans who passed bills on the Gold Dome.

We need a workhorse in this office who wants to do this job, and not someone who wants to protest every single day.

All right.

Thank you.

And Tanya Miller, it's your turn to ask a question of Brian Strickland.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Senator.

You've described yourself as a workhorse and you've talked about your service.

One of your constituents and neighbors said about your candidacy for Attorney General, you don't take a thief and put him in a bank.

She said that her health matters.

Your neighbors and constituents don't trust you and your secret data center deals.

They say you've kept them in the dark.

You signed the authorization that started the process.

So yes or no, will you withdraw that authorization?

End every application, state and local, and give your neighbors the community meeting they've been denied with you.

So there's been a hit piece that was put out right before the debate from a fake news organization.

It's actually funded by George Soros.

The hit piece comes out, then it's ran by Tommy Miller's campaign saying, I have an interest and a $1.2 billion data center project.

It simply is not true.

You know, that's not true.

You got the information from us telling you that's not true.

The truth is, several years ago, a group came to my dad on our family farm in Henry County, and mentioned possibly doing a development with him.

We then had public hearings and town halls.

Ultimately we said no.

We said no data center for us because my closest neighbor at data center was actually my parents.

They had their own concerns and they said no to this.

Yet your campaign and now even here today, you continue to to peddle this false story, which you know is not true.

And my 6-year-old saw your ad hitting me saying, I'm now in with the data center the other day, and I was trying to explain to him that, son, this is just politics.

This is what happens in politics.

His answer from a 6-year-old was spot on.

He said, daddy, it shouldn't have to be this way.

We should talk about the issues, representative.

We shouldn't attack each other's families.

Well, I want to talk about the issues.

One of the most pressing issues in the state is these data centers.

And sir, while you're trying to downplay it now because you got caught red handed by a legitimate news organization, the fact of the matter are that the records are there.

You signed and I have it right here.

You signed the authorized, you notarized an authorization to start the process of putting a 250 acre data center on your property.

You went to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

You went to the Georgia Transportation Commission and got funding for this data center.

You heard from Hampton that your data center would hurt their water.

You heard from the Atlanta Regional System system that it was going to hurt the environment.

And yet it wasn't until days before you announced that you postponed Miller.

That is your time.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

That's time.

We're you're now watching the general election debate for Georgia Attorney General.

We'll now go back to our panel, who will ask questions to the candidates of their choice until we run out of time.

Brendan Keefe, we're going to start with you.

I did want to sort of close the loop on the Flock camera issue.

It's a simple constitutional law question.

I don't have a JD, but let's go back to law school for just a moment.

Does a private vendor system that tracks the daily lives of millions of innocent Georgians, creating a searchable database of those movements for the government, without a warrant, implicate the Fourth Amendment and its protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Let's start with you, Senator.

So it could we want to make sure that these Flock cameras are used in the right way.

And so I'd go back to law enforcement because they will tell you they need these cameras to solve crimes.

We've seen time and time again recently as a police shooting down in Meriwether County, they found the perpetrator, the defendant, by way of a Flock camera.

When you have children that are missing, you have the amber alerts that we all get.

Flock cameras lead to solving those cases.

They can be a good thing, but we have to have parameters on them.

When the legislature goes back in in January, legislature should pass law.

That puts parameters on how these cameras are used to make sure the public does have access to all the data that's in them, and it makes sure they're not abused and makes sure that when bad actors do act, that we can actually catch them.

And again, the legislature won't do that.

As attorney General, I'll use my authority to go after the private company to make sure that that is put into their policies and put into play in Georgia.

Before I before I move on.

Before I move on to Representative Miller, yes or no?

Does it implicate the Fourth Amendment?

It could, but it depends.

It depends on how it's being used.

When law enforcement is using it directly, it may or may not.

It depends on case by case.

Representative Miller it's the mere collection of this data on millions of Americans implicating the Fourth Amendment or not.

Know the Fourth Amendment protects you, protects you from searches and seizures in places where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Any prosecutor would know that.

That is a simple question.

That is Fourth Amendment 101.

The reason why he doesn't know is because he's never stood in a courtroom and defended a search warrant.

He's never challenged a search warrant.

Here is the issue.

Things that the public can see.

Cameras can record things that the public cannot see without a search warrant.

Cameras cannot record without a search warrant.

At the end of the day, the question is not whether or not these things should be used to solve crimes.

Everybody knows that.

The problem is with regulating these things and making sure that it is not being abused, that people are not recording you in places, that you have an expectation of privacy, and you need an attorney general who understands the Fourth Amendment, one on one, on day one.

Thank you.

Representative Miller Khamenei, it's your turn.

Senator Strickland, like you said, you have the backing of law enforcement.

How can the public trust that you'll be willing to hold them accountable as well, when they're accused of misconduct.

Because a good officer will tell you that one number one thing you want is when there's a bad officer, that you make an example out of them.

90% of our law enforcement are good.

And when someone does something wrong, you make an example out of them, you go after them.

I have a record, again, of carrying very strong legislation concerning public safety.

I've carried all types of bills chairing the Judiciary Committee as well in the public safety area.

I have the background that my opponent says, I've never tried a case, never stood in a courtroom.

I've tried criminal cases.

I mentioned opening statement, actually prosecuted on the civil side, elder abuse case through Rico laws.

I've been in these courtrooms and tried these cases.

I've worked with law enforcement.

And again, if you ask them, they said one of the groups interviewed Tanya Miller.

She came into the law Enforcement Association group and played very tough on crime.

And literally somebody said, is that the same person that I knew from the Gold Dome?

Because that's not who she spent at the Gold Dome.

We cannot take the soft on crime policies that Keisha Lance Bottoms soft on crime policies we've seen in California and New York.

Implement those here in Georgia.

Mayor respond.

Yeah, I think I'm going to give Representative Miller 30s to respond.

I would invite the senator to go down to the Department of Corrections and ask all the murderers that are still sitting there, because I sent them there, whether I am soft on crime, just because you introduce a bill doesn't mean it is a bill that should be passed.

There are reasonable objections to policy making.

I take that role seriously.

It has nothing to do with being soft on crime.

At the end of the day, you could have been a prosecutor if you cared about doing the work.

When it's low pay and when there are no cameras, but you want the top job with no experience.

That's the difference between me and you.

Thank you, Miss Miller.

Brendan, back to you.

I'm going to go back to open records for a second because this isn't about the press.

It's about the people.

It's getting harder for Georgia citizens to access the very public records they pay for.

The government doesn't own these records.

The people do, and they're maintained at taxpayer expense.

Georgia's attorney general is responsible for enforcing the Open Records Act, but it also represents state agencies accused of violating it.

In fact, the current attorney general has acknowledged that his office cannot mediate complaints against state agencies because they're also his clients.

Doesn't that create an inherent conflict of interest?

And would you support establishing an independent office with the authority to investigate and enforce open records violations, including those committed by state agencies?

Representative, I'd like to hear from you first.

Thank you for that question.

You are absolutely right.

That is essentially what I said in my op ed.

These documents belong to taxpayers.

These documents should be produced to taxpayers and to the media.

Unless there is some narrow exception.

And those exceptions should be viewed narrowly.

This is essential to our democracy.

The Attorney General is charged with enforcing it as it relates as it relates to state agencies.

The Attorney General has a responsibility to issue binding opinions to these state agencies to tell them what the law is.

It is not to enable a state agency to violate the law.

No lawyer should be enabling their client to violate the law.

As the Attorney General, you are responsible to the people and to the Constitution.

That includes state agencies.

So I think it is a cop out really, to say that you can't really make sure that state agencies are complying with the law.

As the attorney General, it is your job to make sure that they are complying with the law.

I would do that and more.

If there's a need for an independent agency, we'll address that.

But right now, I think it's the attorney general's job to do it.

All right.

Thank you, Representative Miller.

Charmaine, how about you ask another question?

Um, if sports betting is legalized, what consumer protection guardrails will your office enforce to protect Georgians from predatory advertising, particularly marketing targeting targeted at young adults or college students?

And I'd like to begin with, Senator Strickland, please.

Yeah.

We haven't discussed consumer protection yet, but it's such an important part of this office.

This office has a consumer protection division, and it's solely tasked with protecting Georgians from big tech, big companies and those that those that prey on people.

We often say this is our most vulnerable.

Look at our children, people with special needs, our elderly.

But in today's world, with prices being so high, we're all vulnerable.

We need to make sure someone who you're going to elect to put in this position will use that office to go after those that are taking advantage of everyday Georgians.

My 8-year-old likes to watch YouTube, and what we saw and watching YouTube one time at the house was an AI video comes on and he loves animals.

He loves ducks in particular and he thought he was safe.

We thought he was safe watching a cartoon video with a duck.

Next thing you know, the duck is jumping off a building implying how to kill yourself.

That's the kind of stuff that's being put out there right now.

We have to have guardrails.

We have to make sure we go after those that are taking advantage of our most vulnerable.

Take advantage of every single Georgian.

All right, Brendan, your turn.

Simple question.

I'll start with you, Senator Strickland, who does the attorney general work for at the state or the people.

The attorney general works with the people.

The attorney general has 11 million clients, because I know these agencies that we advise on the law are our clients.

The end of the day, these agencies work for you, the people.

That's why I say who you elect in this position affects everybody, not just if you're dealing with consumer protection, not just you're a victim of a gang or human trafficking.

We all deal with our state agencies.

Who do you want to stand in the gap and be your lawyer and fight for you every single day?

And that's why we talk about our reputation.

Look, we both would acknowledge most people don't follow us day by day at the state Capitol.

You rely upon us to tell you what we've done at the state Capitol.

But I'd say go ask those that have worked with us.

Go ask law enforcement.

Go ask my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats to work with us.

You'll learn a lot about the two of us and who's going to fight for everyday Georgians every single day and make sure that that lawyer you put in this office is representing you, not big corporations, not a political party, not a national figure, not some national movement.

But you, the 11 million Georgians.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

That was all the time that we have for questions.

It was getting really good in here.

But we've got a time limit.

We've got to go on to the next one.

So thank you both for spirited debate.

The candidates are now going to have 60s apiece for a closing statement.

Brian Strickland we're going to start with you.

Thank you.

Veronica, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you, representative, for sharing the stage with me today as well.

My campaign uses a shield, not a sword.

We use a shield for our logo.

As I said in that last answer, because the Attorney General should be the line of defense for 11 million Georgians, not a Partizan, not a partisan sword, not a sword for one political figure, one political office, one national party.

And we want someone that's going to fight for us every single day.

That's going to be our protector in this role.

Both of us have records in this race.

Every record of leading on big issues, taking on big policies, fighting for everyday Georgians, Under the Gold Dome if you want an attorney general to do more than just talk the political fight, talk the political talk, I'm your candidate.

My wife and I decided to join this race as a family because we have an 8-year-old and 6-year-old just turned 92 boys.

We want to make sure our boys get to grow up in the same great Georgia that we got to grow up in, make sure that our boys are safe.

If you elect me to be your next attorney general, I'll fight to protect your family just as hard as I fight to protect my own.

Thank you.

All right.

Tanya Miller, it's your turn.

Well.

Thank you.

I am an undefeated homicide prosecutor running for the top prosecution job in this state.

And what I want you to do.

I'm going to give you a little homework.

I'm going to ask you to go look at what my opponent had said from the beginning of his race.

Right now, he sounds a lot like me.

He's saying all the things I've been saying since the beginning of this race.

My opponent has doubled down on Donald Trump.

He is a Donald Trump Maga endorsed opponent.

He stood on a stage with Donald Trump.

Donald Trump called him his warrior.

He is a shape shifter.

At the end of the day, experience matters.

He keeps talking about his legislative experience because he doesn't have any prosecution experience.

I am endorsed by sheriffs, by district attorneys, by law enforcement officers, some of whom I actually solved crime with.

They represent millions of Georgians all across this state.

And I said from the beginning, I am running to be the people's lawyer.

He's running to be Donald Trump's lawyer.

We will do this without regard to party the powerful or who sits in the White House.

Thank you so much.

Thank you both.

Early voting starts Tuesday, October 13th and runs through Friday, October 30.

Election day is Tuesday, November 3.

We thank all of the candidates and our panel of journalists.

We'd also like to thank the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for arranging today's debate.

I'm Veronica Waters, thanks for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.