Hello, I'm Jeff Hollinger, executive producer of local content for Georgia Public Broadcasting.

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

This is the debate for the Republican candidates for the Georgia governor's chair.

We have two journalists who will be asking the questions.

Ralph Bailey is a politics reporter at WABE in Atlanta.

Riley Bunch is a policy and politics reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Rick Jackson 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 Burt Jones to introduce himself and tell viewers why he should be Georgia's next governor.

Bert, you have 60s to introduce yourself.

Well, thank you, Jeff, and I appreciate Atlanta Press Club putting this opportunity together for us today, and I appreciate the panelists here today.

And I'm sorry that my opponent decided not to show up today.

But look, I'm Bert Jones, I'm a sixth generation Georgian, born and raised in Middle Georgia, still live there today where I'm married to my high school sweetheart, Jan Xi.

And I have two teenage children, Stella and Banks.

And, you know, we've lived the American dream.

You know, we work right there in our hometown.

I have a business called Jones Petroleum Company, where we employ, uh, 2,500 plus people.

So I know exactly what it's like to make payroll, know exactly what it's like to sign the front of the check.

And I've served as lieutenant governor for the last four years, where we've had unbelievable successes.

Uh, thanks to the partnership with Governor Kemp and and the legislative body.

And we want to continue to work hard for the people of Georgia.

And if you elect me, governor, I promise you I won't let you down.

And the reason why so many people have endorsed me, including President Trump, is because they know I'm a great leader and they know I am putting Georgians first every day.

For the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press Club dot o r g. Our panel will now take turns asking a question to the candidate.

Each panelist will ask three questions for Burt Jones.

We will start with Raul Bailey and once again the candidate will have 60s for a response.

Lieutenant governor, I want to ask you about something you've advocated for in the past expanding gambling in the state of Georgia.

For example, online sports betting.

Two specific questions for you, because this always comes up at the Capitol.

Sure.

Where does the money go?

Where does revenues go?

Because you asked five people.

You get five different answers of where the money should go.

Where would money go for you?

And then something we've not seen with this governor is a push to expand gambling.

Georgia as governor, would you push to expand gambling through the legislature?

Look, this is a measure that's probably been talked about for the last 40 years.

Raul.

And the thing that I have always said, and I've been very open about that I have pushed for in the past, was on the sports betting and sports betting is going on in 38 other states, 38 other states are regulating those betting's.

And I've always said that we should put sports betting under the Georgia Lottery and and allow it to be regulated and also allow us to be able to collect the revenue dollars from that.

You already have the mechanism in place with the Georgia lottery system.

And so that's the thing that I've always said that I thought made the most sense, because it doesn't cause any brick and mortar.

It doesn't, you know, anyways, it, it, what it does is it helps you regulate it.

And it also enables you to collect the revenue dollars for it.

And on the other stuff, I've never pushed for those things because there's just never been an appetite for it in the Georgia legislature.

Riley Bunch, You may ask a question for Burt Jones.

Now.

Lieutenant governor, Governor Kemp recently had to cut $300 million in spending to offset a hole in the budget caused by the income tax cut passed by lawmakers.

If elected, what is your plan to backfill that revenue loss without cutting state services?

Well, look, I don't believe you have to cut services in order to adjust your budget.

You know, our whole idea is about putting money back in the pockets of hardworking Georgians.

Four years as lieutenant governor, we've lowered the state income tax all four years.

I've always said I'd like to see us go to zero.

We can't.

Property taxes.

This past year.

I'd like to see us continue to work on, uh, work on property taxes for homeowners in particular.

But quite frankly, on the on the budget cuts that we did, you know, we've got $30 billion of corporate welfare that we've been doling out for over two decades.

Uh, that's where we need to address some of those issues, the ones that you don't have a good rate of return on, you need to get rid of those.

And, and that's what I would work on.

But I've always said when we cut the state income tax, we're going to do it responsibly and we're going to do it methodically.

And that's what we've done the last four years.

Rahel, back to you for another question.

Can I follow up on your answer there?

Can you address specific tax cuts, credits, exemptions that you would cut?

You know, obviously, a lot of tensions around the film tax credit and and those around data center and high tech, but what would you specifically aim?

Because when you put your budget together, that's an area you can.

Aim for.

Well, you've got I mean, you've got pages and pages of text.

You're talking about a 20 years worth of tax cuts and tax exemptions that have been doled out, uh, over through by the legislature through the years.

The ones who do not give you a return on investment.

That means employing jobs and employing people, and also producing revenue for the state as a whole.

Those are the ones that will that will, will eliminate first.

Uh, like I said, there's literally hundreds of tax credits and incentives out there.

And the movie business, even though it's been hit pretty hard here recently due to the strikes of actors and writers and everything else, it was generating a return for the state as a whole.

And so you can look at adjusting or getting rid of, uh, a lot.

You can look at getting a lot of tax credits, but those that do have a rate of return, you look at those and see about maybe just adjusting or not touching them at all.

I'll give you another question.

Okay.

Um, do.

Do do do do do do.

There's only one person up here.

Y'all gonna run out of questions for us.

30 minutes is up.

I believe.

Lieutenant governor, what is the specific role of state government when it comes to artificial intelligence?

And I think in the bigger the negative consequences of of people possibly losing jobs, or as we've also seen people not being able to get hired, some coming out of college.

What is the role for government?

What would you do as governor to address some of the negative effects of artificial intelligence?

Well, I don't think I don't think we fully this is one of those revolutions that is going on right now, and I don't think we fully seen the capacity of what AI can do as far as, uh, you know, eliminating jobs, but might open up other job opportunities with eliminating some jobs and it might create more cottage industries.

The thing that I, we have focused on the last couple of years under my leadership is working, uh, look at AI and how it could be harmful to our young people.

And we have really cracked down on trying to put some guardrails and stipulations around some of these apps that are out there that I think are quite dangerous for young people to, to be participating in.

And I think they really are used to help target young people, whether it's in targeting could be anything from, you know, from, uh, you know, uh, trying to do harmful things to other individuals or whatever it is, but also just trying to keep those young people focused on what's important.

And, and I think that AI, I think, I think it's exciting times for AI, but I do think there are some things that, uh, you know, when you start talking about some things that we need to look at as we see further along, how much it's going to impact our day to day lives.

Riley Bunch, you have the next question.

And this is the last question of this round.

Similar question.

And it is on an issue that is bipartisan.

We're seeing it across the state, which is data centers.

You know, there's concern across communities about the resources that these facilities take.

And the legislature didn't pass any regulations around these this session.

I'm curious, you know, what regulations around this would you support?

And also, can you take the opportunity to let voters know if you have any personal business stake in the industry?

No, I don't have any personal business stake in the industry, but I've been accused of it.

And my opponent, who's not here tonight, he does have ownership stake in data centers, but they've accused me and they're not true.

But there's been a lot of things that that this crowd that didn't show up today, uh, has accused me of, and probably the reason why they're here is because they don't want to actually, uh, stand right next to me and try to and try to convey the reasons why they've been attacking us with a bunch of false claims, but that nonetheless, we in the Senate now, the Senate body, which I oversee, uh, two years in a row, have passed legislation to eliminate any kind of tax cuts or tax incentives for data centers.

I do not think that we should be supplementing at the local level or at the state level, data centers.

And I don't think that we should be charging the consumers more.

If if there's infrastructure that has to be done by the utility companies.

I've always been very clear about not supporting, uh, the corporate welfare to data centers nor, uh, passing the buck on to the consumers when the infrastructure has to be upgraded.

All right.

So that concludes our first round.

And Burt Jones, you can now ask a question to your opponent, represented by the empty podium, and you will have 30s to ask the question.

And then you got 20s to give a rebuttal to how you think your opponent may have responded.

So those.

Sure, those are the ground rules of of where we are proceeding right now.

All right, all right.

Well, well, Jeff, I'll talk to you since there's nobody over here to the left for me to talk to.

But I will say this, that if he if my opponent was here, if Jackson was here, I would just ask him very simply.

You know what, what is the deal with the Medicare fraud and the $750,000 in settlement money that he paid the Department of Justice?

I would ask him about his campaign contributions to Stacey Abrams, as well as Liz Cheney and Jeff Duncan, and his association with organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Uh, and and last but not least, I would ask him about the question.

I tripped him up on last time he was on stage.

I mean, illegals, do you have working for your company?

How many illegal immigrants do you have working at your home?

And obviously he couldn't answer that question then it's probably the reason why he's not here now is, uh, he doesn't have any answers for these questions that are that have been been asking.

And of course, like I said, it just shows a man's character when he won't show up and, and take a take questions and Q&A from journalists or whoever else wants to ask you the questions.

All right, Mr.

Jones.

Thank you.

You are watching the Republican runoff debate for Georgia Governor Rick Jackson declined to participate due to a scheduling conflict and is represented by an empty podium.

We're going to go back to the panel, who will ask questions to Burt Jones until we run out of time.

Riley Bunch, we will go to you and right here, right now.

Lieutenant governor, you're running with the endorsement of President Donald Trump and in strong support of his agenda and his policies.

How do you appeal to moderate, independent and even swing voters who may not be as comfortable with the choices coming out of the White House?

Well, look, my plan obviously, I've had the president's endorsement.

I'm proud of the of that endorsement, just like I'm proud of almost 100 sheriffs around the state that have endorsed me.

And I appreciate the partnership that I've had with Governor Kemp.

Uh, you know, I've been lieutenant governor for the last four years and been was in the Senate before that and the last ten years the state of Georgia has had unbelievable economic growth and population growth.

And we've been considered one of the best states to live, work and raise a family.

And so I, I, I take that and, and carry that banner with a lot of pride because at the end of the day, I'm talking about lowering your cost of living by trying to cut income and property taxes.

I'm talking about educational opportunities for our youth.

I'm talking about economic development for our state as a whole.

I'm talking about working on workforce development for people to have jobs, good paying jobs when they get out here.

And so and then I'm talking about public safety, keeping our streets safe.

I don't think it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat or independent, those those things that I truly believe in at my core are things that resonates with anybody that you get in front of.

And so I, I like my chances of being able to sell myself to any kind of group.

You want to ask me to go into, whether Republican, Democrat, or independent.

Rob Bailey, it's your turn.

Lieutenant governor, in 2020, if you were governor, how would you have handled the election results?

The election certification, differently if you were governor?

Well, look, you got to remember, we had two U.S.

Senate seats that were on the line there.

And so when I asked for a special session, the the media never reported it properly because I asked for a special session because the rules had been changed by the Secretary of State without legislative approval.

And I wanted the the rules as far as the drop boxes and mobile and mobile, uh, voting and everything.

I wanted that to be to the old system of doing things and then put together a panel to look at the allegations that have been made, uh, you know, but none of that happened.

And that's, you know, is what it is.

But I think having four years of the Biden administration has made us appreciate now, the new Trump administration here in 24 and and how and it enabled us to be able to see that the Democratic National Party does not have the best interests of the American people at hand.

Riley, back to you.

Lawmakers have been called back to the Gold Dome for a special session right after our runoff.

And I'm curious, do you agree with Governor Kemp's decision not to have lawmakers redraw congressional and legislative lines ahead of the November 2026?

Well, we're going back into special session for two reasons.

One is to address the QR codes that the Secretary of State never has done.

And since we passed two years ago, to get rid of the QR codes.

So we're going to have to do that.

And then the second portion of it look, Supreme Court made a ruling that no longer lines can be drawn based on race.

I think that's the right move, I think.

And we should definitely come back in when we come back into session.

We should draw lines based on what makes the most sense from a geographic standpoint.

And, and, and I think that it's the right thing for us to do to fix the QR code situation.

When we come back in, as well as looking at redrawing the maps.

June means Wimbledon.

So we volley back and forth here in celebration.

Ralph, back to you.

I want to follow up on that on that specifically, you had Republicans say, pause the primaries, stop the primaries that were already underway, redraw the lines for this year's election.

Should the governor have done that to redraw the lines for this year, for the elections we're in right now?

Yeah, we were already, I think, in the second week of early voting, if I remember correctly.

So I think we were, uh, the call that the governor made was justified.

Uh, so, but he's accomplishing both things.

You know, we got through the primaries and, and we're going to come back in and redraw the lines.

And I think that's the ultimate goal because like I said, I do agree with what the Supreme Court said.

Um, but, uh, you know, I'm clear about going on the record about it.

You know, this guy right here that doesn't show up to anything.

He, he is once again, a question.

He always dodges.

So.

But no, I think it's the right call for us to go into special session when we're going into it.

Rightly.

In 2019, the legislature passed the Georgia Life Act, which limits abortions when fetal cardiac activity is detected around six weeks.

Would you advocate or support an amendment that takes that further or any other changes to the abortion laws in Georgia?

Look, I, I was in the Senate when we voted on the heartbeat bill, and that was something that, uh, it's a, it's one of those topics that is, it brings up a lot of emotions and rightfully so.

I voted for the heartbeat bill.

And, and was glad that I did that because we have the because of the exceptions that we have in there, rape, incest, or the health of a mother.

But I don't think you can just be pro-life and take a vote on it and, and be done with the subject matter.

I think we have to.

And the reason why, when I became lieutenant governor, I set up the Children's and Family Committee where we could focus on emergency pregnancy centers for women.

We could focus on things, focus on things about how we become better at having allowing children to be adopted, make that process a speedier process.

We worked on foster care issues.

We worked on educational opportunities for kids in foster care, as well as those parents who were willing to raise foster children.

So I think if you're you're going to talk about being pro-life, which I am, uh, you've also got to talk about how we continue to support those families that, that made that decision and move and moving down the road.

So do you, would you think that the law should stay as it is, or would you support any changes.

To it?

I think the law is I think the law has been challenged on many different levels.

And, and I and I'm I'm proud of the work that was done in 2019.

Raul.

I do want to go back to the special session.

We we talked about the redistricting portion.

There's the other portion of where you have legislation, a law that kicked in kicks in July 1 that, uh, QR codes can no longer be used to tabulate votes.

That's right.

I'm asking this both as lieutenant governor and as a candidate for governor.

How should Georgians be voting this fall and in the future?

Like what?

What kind of machines?

What kind of counting that process?

Look, the whole the reason why we did this two years ago is give them plenty of time, plenty of bandwidth to to remove the QR codes and take the receipt receipt of the of the voter and throw it and run it through the scanner and let it and let it just like a scantron machine that we used to have in college.

Jeff.

You remember those?

I know, but, uh, so it's not that hard.

But when the secretary of State refuses to take the QR code off, and the ballots are being counted by the QR code, uh, that's what that's the portion that people don't trust.

And, and so in order to take any doubt out of it, uh, we said, let's take, get rid of the QR codes, let's get the scanners where they read the actual receipt that you've that is printed off for you after you vote and, and count the ballots that way.

Like I said, if we've made it a lot more difficult than what it should have ever been.

Uh, but I will tell you this, that, uh, that's what we probably be the best thing for the fall.

And then you, when you have a new secretary of state and a new governor, a new legislative body, you can look long term how you'd like to change it from there.

Riley.

Hundreds of thousands of Georgians lost health care coverage when the enhanced federal subsidies expired.

What is one thing that you would do to expand health care access in Georgia?

Well, you know, have done it as lieutenant governor.

One of the things that I went after was the bureaucratic system called the certificate of need, which really hurt particularly rural communities and their ability to get health care facilities.

Uh, and I wanted them to have a community, wanted to have a hospital.

If you want to have a surgical center or anything, they had to go through this process called certificate of need, which is totally ridiculous.

And it's totally ridiculous is still in place.

So we, I think in order to have more competition, you have to have more facilities in order to be able to treat more people, you have to have more facilities.

And in both the metro and rural areas.

So I pushed for, for us to have a, uh, to reform that.

And right now, Lee County, Georgia, is putting a new hospital under construction as well as a cancer center in Athens, Georgia, which was never able to open because of the certificate of need process.

They're able to open now and treat people.

And so those are things that I've been doing and will continue to do, because if a community wants to have good health care access, they ought to be able to do it, and they ought not have to go to a government entity to ask for permission.

Is there any additional policies that you would push once you're in the governor's seat?

Look, I like what the I like the program that Governor Kemp has put in place.

The.

That has a work requirement.

The pathways program is what they call it.

That is an expansion, you know, of of health care.

And I think it's the it's the right move.

We need to promote it more and, and try to get more people on those rolls.

But, uh, you know, until the federal government can really get its act together until Congress can get its act together about how we're going to best, uh, you know, put health care coverage to the citizens of this country, we're going to have to be coming up with unique ways here at the state level.

And one is you improve access.

Number one, if because if you're going to add more bodies, you got to have more facilities.

And then you also improve more educational opportunities right here in the state.

The whole reason why we started the University of Georgia Medical, uh, school over there was so we could have more home doctors and physicians and, and to hopefully facilitate some of these Walz.

Governor Kemp signed legislation that starting in 2028, five Atlanta metro counties, their county commissioners, their district attorneys would be elected on a nonpartizan basis versus currently Partizan basis.

Obviously, he had objection because those are all Democratic counties.

But you had Republicans also raise objections saying that those races should also be Partizan.

What is your belief when it comes to county commissioners, district attorneys and even sheriffs?

Should those be elected on a partisan basis?

Nonpartizan basis?

Statewide?

Sure.

I mean, look, the real answer is that this is a topic that's come up many, many times through the years, and sometimes it has involved county commissioners, and sometimes it is involved, uh, you know, constitutional officers like sheriffs.

Uh, and so, you know, it's always a differing of opinions right there with the legislations you're talking about, right?

Raul, with those, those five metro counties, those were brought forward by, you know, people in the local delegations, uh, that, uh, that, you know, felt so inclined to bring that legislation forward and they were able to get it through both chambers.

Uh, and then it was signed by the governor.

So there's a debate on when it's a good place to have Partizan or nonpartisan events.

But, you know, I always you like to think that people earn people's vote based on, you know, based on the, the person and what they're putting forward.

Uh, but, uh, long story short, when you have a group that you know, that wants to go that way, you give them, you let them go through the democratic process.

And that's through the legislative process as well as, you know, to their voters.

Should that be consistent statewide, though?

You know, whether it's nonpartisan or partisan should or should the counties on themselves decide?

Yeah, I mean, I would rather put it to the counties, be honest with you.

Um, I do think there are instances where, uh, in particularly small enough communities that, you know, I don't think people really care one way or the other if it's a Republican or Democratic vote, be honest with you.

They look at the person individually.

Uh, but, but kind of what, how we settled that, you know, we let the delegations of those different counties present the bills and, and they both pass both chambers.

And then we're signed into law.

So that's kind of how the process works, you know, legislative process.

And, uh, whether and I never endorsed it one way or the other, but it was interesting that it was able to get through both chambers in such a tumultuous time in the, in the legislative chambers.

So, all right, that's all the time we have for questions.

Burt Jones will now have 60s for a closing statement.

Look, I've always been one that was raised that you show up, you show up.

If you want to show people that you actually care.

And that means that when people talk about, uh, you know, if it's church or if it's a family reunion or, or if it's, uh, at your job, in order to be taken serious, you need to show up and show people that you care, number one, and they appreciate what they're doing for you.

I appreciate the people of Georgia who've given me the opportunity to be serve as your lieutenant governor for the last four years, and I appreciate the people back home who have supported me when I served in the state Senate.

I am somebody who is a business person first, and I have always been.

And I bring business principles to my role as lieutenant governor and the state of Georgia.

As I said on here last time, is out of state.

That whoever's next governor is is not inheriting a bad situation with the state.

The state has had unbelievable gains from an economic standpoint, from an educational standpoint, from a population standpoint.

And it's because of good leadership that we've had here in the state of Georgia.

Leaders like Governor Kemp, which I've had a great working relationship with, reason why I'm endorsed by President Trump and endorsed by so many sheriffs around the state, as well as so many business leaders, is because they know who I am, they know my character, and they know that when I tell you I'm going to do something, I'm going to deliver on it.

And just like when I told you I was going to show up for this debate, I showed up and took the questions for both friendly questions, all friendly questions.

But some were a little tougher than others.

But I take it I took the questions either way, and I think that's what you want your elected officials, you'll show up, take on the tough questions, and show that they represent the people of Georgia no matter what.

All right.

Very much.

Thank you very much.

Early voting begins on Monday, June 8, and it runs through Friday, June 12.

Election day is Tuesday, June 16th.

We want to thank Burt Jones and our panel of journalists for being here today.

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

I'm Jeff Hullinger, thanks for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

Good job.