Hello.

Mark Rutte Seshadri, Atlanta bureau chief for Nexstar Media.

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 Grant to the Atlanta Press Club from the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation and the Robert Charles Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for Democratic candidates running for Georgia Congressional District one, congressional district one is in the southeast corner of Georgia.

The cities there include Savannah, Brunswick and Waycross.

We have two journalists on our panel who'll be asking the questions for this debate.

We have Melissa Fato, the evening news editor at WABE in Atlanta, and Jill Nolan, the editor of the Georgia Recorder.

Joyce Marie Griggs, declined to participate due to a scheduling conflict and is represented by an empty podium.

I'm going to kick off today's program asking Amanda Hollowell to introduce herself and tell you why she should be the next congressional District representative for district one.

Amanda, you will have 60s to introduce yourself.

The podium is yours.

Thank you so much.

Like you said, my name is Amanda Hollowell and I'm running to be the next congresswoman of the first Congressional District.

Our district has such an important part to play in saving democracy, and we need to make sure that we're putting a solutions first and people first candidate.

That's that that needs to fight for all of us.

You know, I think about the idea that we need someone who can move fast with discernment, someone that actually knows they need the energy and the stamina to get from Long County to Effingham, someone that also wants to be present and hear those voters without.

Throughout the first district.

You know, we've had a void for ten years, and I want to fill that void and make sure that I'm hearing from everyone and that I'm actually putting solutions and people first.

This is a very personal fight to me.

I'm in the sandwich generation.

I'm a full time caretaker of my veteran father.

I, well as well as my son has come back home navigating the streaming economy.

And more than anything, I just want to make sure you know that I care.

I want to hear from you.

I want to provide solutions, and I ask for your vote on June 16th.

All right, Amanda, thank you so much for that.

And for the full set of all the debate rules, you can visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now kick things off and take turns asking one question to the candidate.

Each panel will have one question at a time.

Amanda Hollowell will start with Melissa Fato asking your question to our candidate, and you have 60s to craft that response.

Melissa.

You're a first time candidate.

What made you decide to run for office now, and why?

Congress?

I really appreciate this question.

And yes, I am a first time candidate and I, I took a very long time talking to my mentors, my family, folks that I know and respect of the community before I decided to run.

You know, I decided in May, when I was visiting the Capitol, doing advocacy around the budget to restore the cuts to Snap and Medicaid.

I was meeting with representatives, and it was a great, great day in D.C.

The weather was lovely, and I just realized that this is something I want to do, that we need more people who look like me and more people who are who understand folks from Southeast Georgia advocating for them and making sure their voices are heard.

And when Buddy Carter put his name on the retirement list, I really wanted to run because again, the first time in ten years, this seat is open and we have an opportunity to take this seat and put a, well, a well-rounded candidate that is ready to actually solve problems, work hard and fight for the people of of southeast Georgia.

All right, Jill Nolan, you may now ask your question for Amanda Hollowell.

What is your message to the voters who didn't support you in the first round of voting?

My message has been consistent.

Every time I will represent all of Southeast Georgia.

It doesn't matter if you voted or not.

What we're finding is that everyone in this district is having to make very hard decisions around gas, utilities, housing, rent, and just basic necessities.

Being affordable, being able to live.

And so I, you know, it doesn't matter who you vote for.

I don't know who you voted for, but what you should actually trust is that this leader that would be in this seat believes that everyone deserves affordable health care.

We deserve public, fully funded public education.

We must, as always, make sure that we're providing for our veterans and also and address the affordability crisis.

And so I'm excited to represent all of you.

I'm a little nervous because, you know, it is a lot of responsibility.

And I take that very seriously.

But more than anything, I do want to make sure that your voices are being heard, that we're providing solutions for you and you do not feel left alone out there in the Southeast district.

All right, Amanda, thank you so much.

And that concludes our first round.

Amanda, for Amanda Hollowell, you may now ask the questions.

We'll go back to our panel to ask questions back and forth until we run out of time.

But before we give it back to the panel, I'm going to actually ask Amanda question about data centers.

We have covered that extensively, this time at the legislative session.

We wanted to ask you in terms of where do you stand on that in terms of utility costs?

They do bring jobs, but they also could be damaging for people who live there.

Where do you stand on that issue?

Yeah, I don't I believe that we can actually regulate data centers.

I don't believe they're inevitable.

And that's what a lot of folks say.

I think first and foremost, we need to figure out at the federal level how to regulate data centers.

We need to make sure that we're putting stricter restrictions on as far as environmental protections.

Also, making sure we're working with those power companies to make sure that they're not exploiting and passing costs on to the consumer when when we know how much energy these data centers cost.

And, you know, we have to be honest, a lot of folks in these local counties are, are having budget cuts from what this federal government has done to them, and they're trying to fill those holes without raising people's property taxes.

And it's really important that, you know, we give them other options.

We fully fund budgets so they don't have to make these type of really bad decisions.

We get it.

The data centers say we're going to bring you money.

We're going to bring you jobs.

But the study shows that they actually do not bring jobs.

They actually are more harmful for the environment.

They provide all kinds of pollution, and they're just a one hit, a one time.

You cannot do your county or state budget on one hit.

All right, Amanda, thank you so much.

And now you may ask a question to your opponent.

And as we see your opponent is not here, Joyce Marie Griggs had a scheduling conflict.

So you'll have 30s to ask a question and then 30s to come up with a rebuttal based on what you think she may answer.

We'll let you have the floor.

Thank you, Miss Griggs.

With deep respect of your years of service, you've run this seat for three times.

What specifically different about your 2026 strategy that will produce a different result in November?

You know, our district is has the ability to be an asset to saving our democracy.

And I believe that we need someone who understands it takes deep investments, building coalitions, and understanding that you have to have national folks come in to raise awareness and bring in the resources, because it's going to take all of us and then some to take this seat back.

And I appreciate, again, her years of service, but we need new energy, new leadership, and a new strategy to win this seat.

All right.

Thank you, Amanda, for that.

You are watching the Democratic runoff debate for Georgia's congressional District.

One will now go back to our panel.

We'll continue asking Amanda questions until we run out of time.

Jill Nolan, we'll start with you.

Thanks.

At the last debate, there was some spirited discussion about whether whether or not a progressive candidate could win in the first.

And I'm wondering, do you think there is some crossover appeal for some progressive policies?

And if so, which ones?

You know, I'm seeing across the country just as like as you are, that people who usually are in deep red districts are actually making movement.

And folks in those deep red districts understand what the problem is.

And the problem is affordability and corruption.

And everyone in this country is sick of it.

And they want this administration to be held to accountable, and they want to make sure that we're actually providing solutions for people.

And that's the thing that I'm hearing from both sides.

I when I talk to business owners, they want stability.

When I talk to folks who are farmers, they want more access to grants.

When I talk to small business owners, they want lower cost health insurance.

And when I talk to young folks, they want money for technical college, for higher education, and a pathway to a job.

So it's not just red or blue, y'all.

This is an economic crisis.

We need to address it with smart people first.

Solutions that matter to the folks that, especially in the Southeast District, that, you know, with all their needs and the things that I've heard from going across the district.

And so I'm just really excited to represent everyone, like I said before, and I'm open to hearing all dissenting decisions around my position in order to get to a compromise.

All right.

Amanda, Melissa, you may ask the next question.

I have a follow up to Jill's question.

Um, no Democrat has won in Georgia's first district since the 90s.

Do you agree that winning in November will likely require winning over moderate, right leaning voters?

And if so, what's your pitch to them?

You know, it's not just like the down the line of like, what is a moderate?

What is a progressive?

More people stayed home and didn't vote.

You know, it's almost equal for how many people who went out to vote in this district stayed home.

And so I'm really want to focus on those folks who stayed home, those younger folks who didn't, who were disenchanted, were not energized to show up to the ballot.

And we will also find our way to those moderates.

I am talking about solutions that can help everyone.

If we lift black and brown folks and people in the margins up, we lift this whole country up.

And so it's not just like, are you too liberal?

Are you to progressive?

Are you too moderate?

I'm more about humanity.

I'm two people.

First, as I can say, and I really want to make sure we're solving the issues of the people of southeast of southeast Georgia.

And I'm listening to everyone.

So it doesn't matter what your label is, because we have got to figure out this crisis that we're in.

Amanda, before we go back to the panel, besides immigration, besides health care, besides jobs, those things come up a lot in health care.

What are some things that are important to you that are perhaps important to voters to understand on where you stand on some of those other issues, maybe not top in front center, but other things that you think is important when someone is casting their ballot.

You know, when someone's casting a ballot, I want to make sure everyone understands that these ballots, well, this first ballot was very long.

You need to be informed about what's going on in your ballot and where people stand.

I've said it before, as you mentioned, I stand for affordable health care, fully funding public education.

Also making sure we're funding title one and Head Start and making sure that we're making it easier for college students to get loans and grants and making sure HBCUs are protected with funding.

But I'm very passionate about health care because I'm in the sandwich generation.

I am a full time caretaker.

I worry about my dad's care every time he's on Medicaid.

And, you know, the U.S.

Is the only country that you can go bankrupt because you have health bills, and that's not right.

And these are a huge problem in Georgia.

We have folks who are traveling long distances to see their primary care facilities.

That means you're costing gas.

And so I really want to address the issues that I know that are top of mind and are directly impacting folks as well as I support a lot of other things that we can all find out.

When you go to Amanda for georgia.com.

All right, Amanda, we'll go back to you to ask Amanda some follow up questions about her stance.

I want to dig in a little bit more on health care.

What do you see as the the most effective way to expand access to health care, especially in a time where we're seeing Medicaid is facing cuts?

Um, hundreds, hundreds of thousands of people, uh, drop their coverage through the, the ACA after the enhanced subsidies expired.

So what do you see as the most effective way to, to expand health care access in the environment we're in?

Yes.

I appreciate this question.

It's not going to be just one way.

It's going to have to take multiple paths.

I fully believe that we need to reinstate those expanded ACA tax credits that we had before, uh, either between a ten year minimum.

Uh, we need to think about what does Medicare for all look like in this current state?

Um, and that it shouldn't depend on your income or your job or your zip code.

And we need to actually think about, you know, how do we lower these costs?

For families who really just want quality care?

And so I think it's a multiple front where we are expanding the, the illnesses that are covered by Medicaid.

We're lowering the ages by Medicare.

And then we're thinking about how do we fully fund our states, who we know are having problems with rural hospitals and giving those grants directly to those counties.

And then also we need to make sure that we're giving subsidies because small business owners use ACA to provide health insurance.

So we have to look at it as a multi, multi front.

It's not going to be one answer.

It's going to be multiple.

In order to improve health care in this country.

All right.

That's all the time that we have with all of our questions for Amanda Hollowell.

Amanda you'll now have 60s to craft a closing statement.

Your time starts now.

You know, I said this before as the Democratic nominee for the first Congressional District, I'm committed to showing up 365 days a year.

You know, this election season needs to see a candidate who can be in all 15 counties, who wants to hear from them, who wants to make sure they have staff.

And, you know, this cannot be a runoff and a voting when we're voting on familiar names, it needs to be because that person has the resume and has the track record of doing this work.

And I have those, and the stakes are too high for us to leave our vote just to a name recognition.

We need to make sure that we understand the key, pivotal moment that we're in in this country.

We have affordability and a corruption process.

We need someone who can go up there and fight, but also understands how policy is made, also understands how to build coalitions, and then also how to bring that information back.

And those dollars back to the first Congressional District.

I'm very excited about looking forward for all of you voting for me on June 16.

All right, Amanda, thank you so much.

Don't forget, early voting will start next Monday, June the eighth.

It will run through Friday, June the 12th, and the runoff election date in Georgia is Tuesday, June the 16th.

We'd like to take a moment to thank our panel of journalists as well as our candidate, Amanda, and would like to thank the Atlanta Press Club and the Georgia Public Broadcasting for organizing today's debate.

I'm Archana Seshadri, thank you so much for joining us at the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

Have a great day.