Hello, I'm Rick Folbaum, news anchor at w a n f in Atlanta.

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.

Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for Republican candidates running for Georgia.

Attorney General.

We have two journalists who will question the candidates.

Charmain Cruz is a criminal justice reporter at WABE in Atlanta, and Rosie Manins is a legal affairs reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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 Georgia Attorney General.

Candidates will have 60s to introduce themselves and will go in alphabetical order, starting with Bill Cowsert.

Well, good afternoon, I'm Bill Cowsert.

Thank you, Rick, and thank you to the Atlanta Press Club for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to Georgians.

I grew up in Macon.

I went to public schools there.

Then I went to Presbyterian College up in South Carolina and eventually to the University of Georgia School of Law.

While in Athens, I met my wife of 39 years, Amy, and we've raised three children and four grandchildren so far and have enjoyed practicing law for over four decades now.

I've concentrated on civil law, usually defending people in their businesses in a variety of circumstances, but a very general practice of law.

I am very strong conservative.

I am endorsed by the Competitive Coalition, a competitive Georgia for being pro-business.

Also have an A+ rating from the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

And I'm here to make Georgia safer, more honest, less fraud, less corruption.

Thank you sir.

Brian Strickland, you're next.

I'm Brian Strickland.

My wife Lindsay and I are blessed to have two little boys, Charles Willis, who is eight, and Beecher, who is six, who we have the honor of raising in my home town of McDonough.

We see people flocking to Georgia now because we're the number one state in which to raise a family, and I'm running for attorney general because I want to make sure we remain that number one state.

I want to make sure my kids get to grow up in a state.

Like I got to grow up in here in Georgia.

We need a fighter in this race, some little stand up every single day for our conservative values and our constitutional rights, and someone that will have the backs of our brave men and women in law enforcement is in the trenches fighting to keep us safe every single day.

I'm proud to be law enforcement's choice in this race.

With over 100 elected law enforcement officials that have endorsed me to be our next attorney general, they trust me because they know my reputation as a state senator, a state representative, and a lawyer.

And I love to earn your trust, too, and earn your vote to be our next attorney General.

Thank you, sir.

For the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now ask a question to an individual candidate, and we'll start with Rosie, who will ask a question to Brian Strickland.

Good morning, Senator Strickland.

You've talked in your campaign material about being tough on sanctuary city policies.

And immigration is such a hot topic at the moment.

I'm wondering, can you talk a little bit about what the current attorney general isn't doing enough in regard to sanctuary city policies in Georgia, and how you would actually make a difference in that area?

Yeah.

And so Georgia is still feeling the impact of four years of Joe Biden, of open border, four years for human traffickers went across our border, walking into our country, four years of fentanyl and other drugs pouring into our country and coming to Georgia.

So what we need is someone in this office that will stand up and support the president, not only with securing the border, but dealing with the impact that we now see from all these people on our state.

And so the Attorney General needs to make sure we don't have cities skirting our laws, trying to create their own sanctuary cities to avoid immigration policies.

You also want to make sure our sheriffs are enforcing our laws.

When there's a detainer hold on someone that has been arrested who has in our country illegally, they should be deported at that time.

So it's very important we have someone in this office that won't blink when it comes to enforcing immigration laws.

Khamenei Cruz, please ask a question of Bill Cowsert.

Good morning, Senator.

Good morning.

You helped lead the state Senate scrutiny of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for charging then former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his allies for their roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election as attorney general, how would you have used your power in the handling of that case?

Well, first, thanks for pointing out our special investigative committee in the Senate.

Very proud to have been chosen by our leadership to chair that committee and our investigation of Fani Willis and also some of the antics of Stacey Abrams, some of which have come out in the news.

Yesterday, we were able to reveal a lot of the misconduct of Fani Willis.

There was no question she was unethical.

She was using that office for personal gain, for profit and for political persecution rather than true, proper purposes of criminal prosecution.

We expose that she later got disqualified and the case got dismissed.

I would be aggressive as the attorney general putting an end to this really just political prosecution.

Some call it, you know, political warfare, so to speak.

That's wrong.

Our people deserve better.

You need to prosecute the criminals, not go after your criminals, your political opponents.

Charmaine, it's your turn to ask a question of Brian Strickland.

Senator Strickland, you chaired your chamber's Judiciary Committee.

What's one of the most pressing legal and judicial issues that you heard about and are prepared to address by becoming attorney general?

So chairing the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, we are charged with hearing all legal bills that go through the Senate.

There's a large percentage of all bills that make the Senate floor to go through our committee, and we have to vet those bills and make sure we get those bills right.

I've been most proud of the work we've done when it comes to our criminal laws in particular, we had a bill that we passed last year I helped work on to go after those that bring fentanyl into our state.

Again, this is something that we're seeing because an open border under four years under Joe Biden, we see drugs that flowed into our country illegally, and we have people in our state that died because of that and are still dying because of that.

And we made sure to give prosecutors the tools they needed to go after those.

And that's the most important part of my job as a state senator is making sure I'm listening to law enforcement and giving them the tools that they need to go after crime in our state.

Rosie, it's your turn to ask a question of Bill Cowsert.

Good morning, Senator.

Good morning.

You are a seasoned senator.

You've been with us 20 years in the Senate.

I'm interested in what you have not been able to achieve as a senator, that you hope to be able to achieve as attorney general.

One thing that I was very strong on, in particular, this last legislative session, is I think the Attorney General needs to be the person to prosecute any kind of election fraud, any kind of election law violations, including campaign finance, law violations.

It is not reasonable for the D.A.

In Fulton County to have exclusive authority to do that, just because the Capitol is in Fulton County.

These are statewide elections and federal elections, and all citizens of Georgia are impacted.

I think we should have a statewide grand jury.

I think the attorney general should be in charge of prosecuting those type of crimes, that it shouldn't be left up to individual DA's.

And as Attorney General, I'll continue to pursue that.

But I will also exercise my jurisdiction to prosecute corruption in any statewide office.

I think our citizens need to know that their vote counts and that it's a fair election, and there's no interference or fraud.

And that concludes our first round.

Each candidate will now ask a question to their opponent.

You'll have 30s to ask the question, 60s to respond.

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

Bill Cowsert, you get the first question for Brian Strickland?

Thank you.

I want to ask a friendly question because I think our experience, our background, our education, and our ability to do the job is important.

I'd like for you to share a little bit for us about your educational background and legal experience over the years.

Yeah, and I appreciate the question.

So I went to Valdosta State University undergrad.

I got a business degree in economics, and then I went to Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville and got a law degree.

And I came back home and started practicing law in my hometown of McDonough.

I spent my first summer interning with the district Attorney's office, the second summer clerking with our biggest firm in town, Smith, Welch, Webb and White.

And I was then offered a position to start practicing with them.

And we're the type of firm that does everything.

And most of my career practicing law has been representing individuals and small business owners when they have to navigate the law.

What I love about what I do is, for most people who come in my door, this is their one time.

They're going to have experience with the legal process.

Usually it's unfortunate they're either being sued or having to sue somebody, and it's up to me to make sure that one experience they have with our legal system is a positive experience.

And more than ever, people have no faith in our justice system.

And I love that.

What I've done as an attorney is hopefully one client at a time, one individual, one small business owner at a time.

Give them a positive experience and showing that legal system works for them.

Mr.

Cowsert, if you'd like, you have 30s to respond.

I'll be glad to.

Yes, I had concerns when I saw your law school was a for profit law school.

It was very lowly.

Ranked only 31% of the graduates passed the bar exam and that it ultimately closed in 2021 after it lost its accreditation.

That bothers me a little bit about the educational background.

I have tried over 500 jury trials throughout the state of Georgia.

There's nobody can match the experience, the understanding of the litigation process and the law.

I think that's important.

You're fine man, we're friends.

Uh, and I wish you well.

Thank you sir.

Brian Strickland, please ask a question to Bill Cowsert.

So Senator Cowsert, everyone views the office of Attorney General as the top cop, the top law enforcement office in our state.

We've had 79 sheriffs that have endorsed in this Republican primary from every corner of our state, over two thirds of our Republican district attorneys, all of our solicitors have all endorsed as well over 100 elected law enforcement officials.

And you've been in the state Senate over 20 years.

Why is it that not one sheriff has endorsed you in this race?

Well, unfortunately, part of the reasons that I didn't ask for them, I've been going to the voters asking for their support, and perhaps I took for granted that the sheriffs and law enforcement would sort of collect with me as much as I fought for them over the years, they will remember that I fought for the hate crimes law and insisted that the blue be included.

Any prosecutors and law enforcement be protected against hate crimes targeted at them because of their position.

I'm going to keep fighting for them.

I'm encouraged by the fact that, uh, Brian Kemp got zero sheriff endorsements back when he ran against Casey Cagle.

But once he won that primary, he got 100% of the sheriffs behind him in the general election.

And I welcome the sheriffs to get on board after we get through this primary.

I got you back.

I'm fighting for you.

Always have and always will.

Same thing goes with the district attorneys.

I poked the bear a little bit there when I attacked one of their own.

When I went after Fani Willis so aggressively.

And I probably hurt some feelings, but I'm here to help you.

I'm here to help law enforcement and prosecutors any way I can.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Strickland, your chance to offer a rebuttal.

Well, I appreciate Senator Calvert's service over 20 years in our state Senate.

He's the longest serving Republican member of the state Senate.

However, I'm honored to make that.

I can announce that every single sheriff that has endorsed in this race, every single elected prosecutor has endorsed me.

They put their name behind me.

They know how important this race is.

They're fighting crime in every single corner of our state.

Politicians are putting in the middle of a lot of this.

Politicians talk big but don't have the backs of our law enforcement officials, and they get in office.

And I'm honored that because of my reputation and my service in the state Senate, as an attorney and as a state representative before that, if they trust me in this race.

You're watching the Republican primary debate for Georgia attorney General.

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

And, Charmaine Cruz, we start with you.

Senator Strickland.

Republicans have held the attorney general post in Georgia for two decades.

How would you respond to criticism that some of your predecessors have focused too much on what's coming out of DC, instead of sticking up for working families?

Well, I would disagree with that.

I'm not running against anybody that currently holds that office or has held that office.

I'm running to be your next attorney general as Brian Strickland, and what I will do is fight every single day for every day Georgians.

What you're looking at in this office is who do you want to be your lawyer?

Who do you trust to be your attorney, to fight for you every single day?

And that's what I'm running to do.

And so I believe we're always going to put every single family in our in our state first.

But it's also important that we do show up in Washington, D.C., because you see, oftentimes the federal government that doesn't care about the states, that's overlooking the power of the states.

It's important that we show up in those big litigation battles and stand up for Georgia, stand up for our values in Washington, D.C.

As well.

We also see other states like New York and California, that pass laws that try to regulate our businesses.

Here in Georgia.

We have to stand to go out there and challenge that as well.

So while it's important to make sure we're at home protecting our values every single day, part of that job is also going nationally and fighting for our values in every corner of our country.

Thank you very much, Rosie, please ask your question.

Senator, Cowsert, you've talked a little bit about how you're here to help prosecutors and help Das, even though you've been in the spotlight for going against rogue Das, so-called rogue Das and Fani Willis, of course, how can voters trust that what you're doing isn't political prosecution when you're calling out Democrats for so-called political prosecution?

You know, I plan to call them out, whichever party they are.

We deserve better than corrupt politicians at any level, particularly prosecutors.

You have to be safe and secure that you're being fairly prosecuted if you happen to be on the other end of that, that you're not being prosecuted for political reasons, but for actually having committed a crime.

What I have done to reach out to the Das is let them know that I'm setting up a Safe streets strike force to assist them in prosecuting violent crime, sex trafficking gangs, fentanyl distributors, any domestic terrorism that we face, sex trafficking of all things Georgians deserve to be safe in their homes and in their communities.

I want to be a force multiplier for any Da that needs help, that wants assistance, cleaning the streets up, getting rid of all of that type crime so that we can all feel more safe and secure in our homes and in our communities and in our towns.

I'm here for you.

I've got their back, Charmaine, we go back to you.

This is a question for both of you, starting with Senator Cowsert.

And you went into this a little bit already, but both of you have emphasized fighting crime and defending conservative values during your campaigns for Attorney General.

Why then, should voters choose one over the other?

I think it's just your emphasis.

There's so many things that the attorney General's office does.

A lot of it's civil.

You're defending the state and its agencies against any type of lawsuits.

You're defending the Constitution of the United States and the state of Georgia.

You're defending our laws that the legislative branch has passed, that both of us understand the power of tripartite government.

It works when citizens are heard and their representatives and senators enact laws that they want.

We're here to enforce that law.

I'm going to be doing it on any kind of law against any person that violates it.

But I want the people of Georgia to know that that's going to be a top priority of mine.

I'm going to do all aspects of the job, but I'm going to focus on, let's get these streets safe again.

Let's live a more comfortable life, more secure.

And I think that's what the voters want.

I think the district attorneys and the prosecutors in the state would appreciate any assistance.

And I want them to know that's my top priority.

Mr.

Strickland, it's your turn to answer Charmaine's question.

Because I think it takes more than just tough talk.

With all due respect, Senator Couser has been chairing this committee, going after Fani Willis for 2.5 years.

Two and a half years ago, he was given subpoena powers in the state Senate to go after her and Nathan Wade and investigate exactly what happened in that office.

So almost two years in, finally, after the case was dismissed, Fani Willis was brought to the Capitol to testify in last minute.

Senator couch didn't show up for the hearing.

He wasn't there when it mattered most.

He wasn't there early on to make sure we got ahead and assisted President Trump, making certain that frivolous case was dismissed.

So it takes more than tough talk.

I think that takes action.

It takes experience and the right kind of experience.

That's what you want in this position.

That is, again, why all these elected law enforcement officials and they choose between us.

They know our reputation, they know both of us, and they all choose me in this race.

Mr.

Cowsert, your name was mentioned there.

I'd like to give you a chance for rebuttal.

Thanks.

Well, that's the first cheap shot of this campaign.

Senator Strickland's disappointed that he is the only Republican Senate attorney that was not appointed to this committee.

One of the reasons we had the committee is because he failed as judiciary chairman to call any hearings.

We fought for a long time to get Fani Willis in front of this committee.

I had surgery the week before it was announced in the committee.

I was unable to go.

Instead of delaying it, I let the vice chairman proceed.

I prepped him for that and we got her testimony.

Thank you very much, Rosie.

It's your turn to ask a question.

This is something that both of you can answer, and I'll come to you first, Senator Cowsert, um, the Democrats in this race have criticized you both as Republicans for being corporate friendly and little people negative, so to speak.

Um, what are you going to do if you're attorney general to improve the lives of everyday Georgians over the interests of corporations?

Well, first of all, I know the Democrats are not happy with some of our investigations of Democratic prosecutors and Stacey Abrams, who will be subpoenaed probably this week, as we've learned recently, that she has diverted about $20 million from a nonprofit to friends.

We don't accept that behavior.

It just so happens it's been democratic behavior.

I'm here to protect everybody.

I'm not going to take it in a partisan manner.

But when I see liberal rogue prosecutors not doing their job, I have to stand up and say something about it.

When I see prosecutors behaving unethically, I have to stand up and let's make it clear.

The direct, clear lines of behavior that's permitted.

Don't prosecute for political reasons.

Do not prosecute for political purposes altogether.

Don't prosecute for financial gain.

Don't put your personal animus ahead of the fair dispension of justice.

Georgians need to feel safe that their judicial system is fair to all.

I'll do that.

Thank you.

Sir.

Mr.

Strickland, it's your turn to answer Rosie's question.

Yeah.

So the Democrats are hoping.

Hoping because it's midterms that the party in charge always has more trouble in midterms.

They're hoping they can somehow capture Georgia this fall.

But they're missing something big.

As I mentioned in my opening, people are flocking to Georgia.

People aren't wanting to leave Georgia.

People are leaving states like New York and California to move here.

And why they're moving here is because of our values.

It's because of the climate that we create.

It's because of the fact we fight for every single Georgian, every day at the state Capitol.

We have to make sure we continue doing that.

We can't get lost in some national narrative when it comes to the election this fall.

I have experience as a state senator and a state representative, a winning very tough elections.

I've had ten contested elections in my time in office over 14 years.

Most of those are general elections, winning elections in a purple and light blue district.

As a conservative Republican, I win those because I show up.

I go to those debates.

I present our conservative message, and I get folks to vote and vote for me because they trust me.

Thank you.

Charmaine, it's your turn to ask a question.

Thank you, Senator Strickland.

What specific ideas do you have for addressing the backlog of court cases and ensuring defendants get fair and speedy trials?

So the best way to address backlogs is actually do the work.

The backlogs exist in counties like Fulton County, where we spend months going after folks.

Of course, for political reasons, we take high profile cases while pushing other cases aside just to get on TV.

So this is very simple.

It's do the work, do the job.

When you're charged with a crime, you should have your day in court as soon as possible because you have constitutional rights and you're presumed innocent until proven guilty.

And for citizens on the ground, we need to make sure we're actually moving cases, make sure we're actually prosecuting those that committed crimes, putting people in jail, and not just playing politics.

When it comes to what happens in our courtrooms.

Rosie, it's your turn.

Senator.

How's it you talked a little bit before about your safe Streets strike force that you would implement.

Have you thought about how you would fund that and what you would cut from the attorney general's budget if you didn't get extra money for that?

I will be asking for extra money.

And I know the Attorney General's appreciate that I excuse me, the d a s appreciate that.

I fought for a pay raise for them this year.

Was up late at night talking to Tasha Mosley to talking to other Democratic Sharif Boston D a s letting them know I was fighting for them to get fair funding so they can do their jobs.

From the AG's office, there are about 350 attorneys in the Department of Law, maybe 50-60 are currently assigned to criminal prosecutions.

The rest are handling other type of administrative law and defending the state and doing other functions of the attorney General.

I will increase the number of attorneys that are in the criminal prosecution branch.

I want to form a special task force of highly trained, highly experienced prosecutors in the AG's office.

Assistant attorney generals that will go out throughout the state, help our local DA's prosecute crime to get rid of this backlog.

We heard from Fani Willis.

She had 14,000 pending cases.

And we said, well, quit prosecuting Trump and Young Thug and anything else high profile.

Go after those criminals.

Thank you, Mr.

Couser.

Uh, Charmaine, it's your turn.

Speaking about massive cases, Senator Couser current attorney General, Chris Carr, brought a sweeping, 61 person racketeering indictment against protesters of Atlanta's Public safety training center three years ago.

Most of that case was recently dismissed.

Carr's office is appealing, and new action is being taken against three of the defendants.

If you are elected to take over for him, would you continue prosecuting these cases or do you think resources should be diverted elsewhere?

I will continue prosecuting those.

That's fascinating.

You ask me that question.

I passed the bill that went after domestic terrorism, that gave the attorney generals concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute these domestic terrorists.

Anybody like those folks at the Atlanta Police Training Center that are impacting and really destroying, interfering with us, building a public safety facility, which we call critical infrastructure, should be prosecuted.

I'm going to continue that battle, and I believe Chris Carr is going to win that battle.

It is not over yet.

I have had discussions with him and he is continuing that appeal, has very strong feelings that he's going to succeed and has thanked me for giving him the ability to pursue that type of misconduct.

That's all the time we have for questions.

The candidates will now have 60s for a closing statement.

Brian Strickland, let's start with you.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to introduce myself to you and talk more about how important this race is.

We have a lot of important elections on the on the ballot this year in Georgia, but it's essential that we get this race for attorney general, right?

It's very important the right person gets this job.

And sometimes you wonder who you can trust.

Politicians get up here and say all the right things in campaign season.

They get elected and do something completely different all the time.

So I ask that you listen to those that you do trust.

79 sheriffs have endorsed in this race, over two thirds of our Republican district attorneys have endorsed this race, including a lot of solicitors as well.

100% of them, every single one of them have endorsed me.

They all put their reputation behind me because they trust me.

I'd also learn to earn your.

I also love to earn your trust to be your next Attorney General.

I'd love to have your vote to learn more about me and go to Strickland for georgia.com.

Strickland for georgia.com.

I'm Brian Strickland.

If you send me in the office of Attorney General, I'll fight for your family just as hard as I fight for my own.

Bill Cowsert, it's your turn.

Thank you, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here.

If I didn't say so earlier.

We drove in through the rain and I was not disturbed by that at all.

We need the rain.

Let's all.

Please pray for our South Georgia friends in Brantley County as they've suffered through the greatest wildfire of our lifetime.

Shortly.

I think that my upbringing, my education, my trial experience, my political experience, my heart for public service uniquely qualified me for this job.

I feel like I've been called to do this.

I think it's God's will, but if it isn't, I will find another way to serve the public in the rest of my active years.

I'm here to help you.

I'm ready day one to defend the Constitution to to make us safer in all the ways I've described.

With the Safe Streets Strike Force to end political prosecutions, to attack political corruption at any level, to stop unethical behavior by prosecutors and other elected officials, and to ensure our fair and honest elections.

Please let me help you.

Couchsurfer Georgia.

I'd appreciate your vote.

Thank you to our candidates.

Thank you to our panel.

I'm Rick Folbaum.

Thank you for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.