Hello, I'm Crystal Edmundson, senior editor at Atlanta Business Chronicle.

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.

Secretary of State.

We have two journalists who will question the candidates.

Kate Brumback is an Atlanta based reporter for The Associated Press.

And Caleb Groves is a political reporter from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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

Candidates will have 60s to introduce themselves.

We'll go in alphabetical order, starting with Tim Fleming.

Hello, Georgia, I'm Tim Fleming, I'm a husband, a father, a small business owner, and I'm running to be your next secretary of State.

I'm running for secretary of state because experience matters.

See, I served as deputy secretary of state under then Secretary of State.

Brian Kemp also served as the chief of staff to Governor Kemp for the first few years of his gubernatorial administration, and I currently serve in the Georgia House of Representatives.

I'm running for Georgia Secretary of State because the serious matters I do not need on the job training.

I can get started day one working hard for Georgians as your next Secretary of State.

I will fight hard every day to ensure our elections are fair, secure, transparent and trusted.

I'll also work to make sure Georgians can get into life in the workforce quicker through licensure reform.

So Georgia remains the number one state to do business.

I look forward to our debate today.

Penny Brown Reynolds you may now introduce yourself.

Hi, I'm Judge Penny Brown Reynolds.

I've spent a lifetime waiting for this moment with all of my credentials.

The one that matters the most is the fact that my grandfather was a farmer, and he taught me values that are Georgia values.

You get up, you work, and you do what you say you're going to do.

Values from my mother, who was a working woman, who was also a poll worker that told me, your vote should be a right and not a fight.

I took an oath to the Constitution long before I became a candidate.

As a judge and an attorney.

I will make certain that our elections are fair, free and secure.

I am not a career politician and I will not bow down to Donald Trump or anyone else.

My concerns are always for you.

I will provide that independent voice that Georgians need, and I would be honored to be your next Georgia Secretary of State.

Thank you both for that.

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

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

We'll start with Kate Brumback, who will ask a question for Penny Brown Reynolds.

Once again, you have 60s for your response.

Your website says we should be expanding access to the ballot, not creating obstacles for Jordan's.

Georgians who are eligible to vote.

What obstacles do you believe exist currently, and how would you expand access?

We have a lot of obstacles, obstacles set by President Donald Trump, who tried to put forth an executive order that was unconstitutional to stop mail in voting, one of which my opponent gladly supported.

Obstacles to reduce Dropboxes.

Obstacles to make certain that individuals who want to vote cannot vote.

So what I want to do, and what I plan to do as Secretary of State, somehow we have missed the mark in believing that we can have security and access, and they don't work together for good.

We have 159 counties, and we know that our counties are doing a wonderful job of making certain that our people can vote.

We need resources for those counties.

But what we do not need is Donald Trump in the federal government coming in to try to take away our Georgians right to vote.

I will stand up against that from day one.

Now it is Caleb Groves.

Time to please ask a question of Tim Fleming.

Representative Fleming.

There have been some changes to voting since 2020.

One of them being restrictions to mail ballot drop boxes.

What changes would you propose to make mail voting more secure, accessible and trusted?

Yes.

Thank you for the question, and I can tell you from my time in the Secretary of State's office where you saw elections fraud was with mail in absentee ballots.

And what I want to do is work with the legislatures, the next secretary of state, to make that process more secure.

As I've stated during my time on the campaign trail and in other interviews, I believe the legislature needs to work with the next secretary of state to put guardrails in place to where people who need to vote absentee, vote absentee.

That should be your elderly, your disabled, you're sick, your military uocava voters serving overseas right now with over three weeks of early voting, weekend voting, Sunday voting in lots of counties, and Election Day, there's ample opportunity to vote in person.

You have to make it a priority to vote in person and to cast your ballot.

As Georgians, we make priorities.

To go to Starbucks, we make a priority to go to Walmart.

You should make a priority to vote in person.

If you are able to.

Caleb, it is now your turn to ask a question of Penny Brown Reynolds.

Judge Reynolds, you talk about expanding voting access, but what would you tell voters who are already don't trust elections here in Georgia?

Well, I want you to, first of all, ignore what my opponent just said.

Did you notice how he said that that's where the fraud is?

I'm a judge and an attorney.

I deal in evidence, facts, and the record.

Put up, put up the evidence that there is fraud.

No system is perfect.

But Raffensperger and the people at the secretary of state's office has said that our elections are fair, free and accessible.

So what I would say more than anything is let's stop the political rhetoric and let's go with the evidence.

Let's not use the playbook that Donald Trump wants us to use, a playbook that's trying to turn us on one another and making us feel like our elections are not free, fair, and accessible.

I'm very concerned about that because it is our neighbors.

It is our friends at the local level that are making certain that our elections are fair.

So no more of this Partizan rhetoric come out of a playbook that has no evidence, in fact, or in the record.

Kate, you have the last question of this round, and it's for Tim Fleming.

President Donald Trump has continued to claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him.

You have said you believe there were irregularities in that election.

What do you mean by that?

So I've stated the whole campaign, my whole focus on my campaign for secretary of state has been focused on the future, making sure our future elections are secure, fair, transparent and trusted.

And as your next secretary of State, that's what I'll do.

But we have to learn from the past and move forward.

I'm not here to relitigate 2020.

I'm here to focus on the future and focus on Georgians to make sure their right to vote is secure, fair, transparent and trusted moving forward.

And that's what I'll do as your next Secretary of State and not focus on the past.

Well, 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 get a 32nd rebuttal.

Penny Brown Reynolds please ask a question of Tim Fleming.

Yes, President Trump's unconstitutional executive order doing away with mail in voting, which would have made it harder for thousands of Georgians to vote, especially seniors and voters.

I spoke out against that executive order, and so did Secretary Raffensperger.

Why didn't you stand up to Donald Trump's executive order?

And if you why wouldn't you speak up?

You're not speaking up now.

So how would the voters believe that you're going to speak up against Donald Trump when you're Secretary of state?

Well, Penny, as I said a minute ago, I do believe there needs to be further guardrails and restrictions around mail and absentee ballots.

I do believe we did not have enough time to implement what was being proposed, as we were so close to Election Day.

If you talk to any of the 149 election superintendents across state, which I have a good relationship with, many of them from my time serving as deputy Secretary of State, you'll know that elections actually start 75-80 days out before the election.

So there just was not time to implement that.

But I do believe we do need to have additional safeguards and guardrails around our mail in and absentee balloting to ensure that it is secure and fair elections are run.

Georgia did you see how he's mumbling and fumbling?

He's doing everything in his power not to be able to say what Donald Trump did was wrong.

You need an independent secretary of state, not somebody that's running to Washington trying to get an endorsement, someone that's doing talking points like a robot and saying what he thinks you need to hear.

Whatever he's selling.

Nobody's buying.

And what I'm saying to you is, I will stand up to Donald Trump and anyone trying to take over Georgia's elections as your next secretary of state.

Tim Fleming you actually.

Excuse me, we're going to move on to the next question.

Tim Fleming is your turn to ask a question of Penny Brown Reynolds.

Penny on elaborate a little more on question that Kate asked.

You have said that election reforms passed by Georgia, common sense majority and signed by Governor Brian Kemp to better secure our elections, created barriers exactly which additional barriers and election safeguards would you remove as Secretary of State to make our elections less secure?

Well, first of all, your premise is wrong.

I would never do anything.

It's kind of laughable and nonsense to think that a woman who took an oath to the Constitution as a judge and a lawyer would do anything to make our elections less, less safe.

You see, I don't have to name drop about a governor or anybody else.

I will first of all follow the Constitution.

It is clear.

I will make certain that we have procedures in place because these conspiracy theories are not doing anything but carrying Donald Trump's water.

And so to say that you're getting a judge, you're getting a lawyer, someone who has spent a lifetime following the law is what I will do to make certain that our elections are safe and secure.

Unlike my opponent, who has spent every bit of his time trying to get Donald Trump's approval, and also to cut the number of days that people vote to stop the number of drop boxes that we have.

We cannot afford Tim Fleming to be secretary of state if we want people to be able to vote.

That is our time.

Mr.

Fleming rebuttal.

Yes, I've worked hard as Tom, as I served as deputy Secretary of State and in my time in the Georgia House of Representatives to ensure that our elections are fair and secure.

As your next Secretary of State, I will continue that work on day one.

I do not need.

On the job training, we will be able to get in that office day one to start working hard for every Georgian across this state.

Thank you.

You are watching the general election debate for Georgia Secretary of State.

We'll now go back to the panel, who will ask questions to the candidates of their choice.

Until we run out of time.

Caleb, we'll start with you.

This is for both candidates.

State lawmakers are expecting to put in place new voting system in time for the 2028 general election.

Um, moving forward, would you prefer a system with touch screens or hand-marked ballots for voters to make their selections?

Let's start with Representative Fleming.

Well, thank you, Caleb, for this question.

I know we talked about this last week on an interview.

I actually serve on a special committee that was created through a special session back in June that is looking at what our next statewide voting system is.

I'm honored that Speaker John Burns put his trust in me to serve on that committee, to start developing standards for our next statewide voting system.

I do believe we need to go to Hand-marked paper ballots.

70% of the United States votes currently.

That way.

I believe that it could be cost savings not only to the state but also to the counties when it comes to storage of these big ballot marking devices, it is a very secure process.

You go into the precinct, you check in with the poll pad, they print your ballot on on demand printer, you go mark it as a voter and then just like you do now, you take it and put it in the scanner and it's dropped in the ballot drop box.

So as your next secretary of state, I'll have the experience to work with the state legislature to get the funding and to get what we need in place to make sure Georgia has a secure, fair, statewide uniform voting system.

And also working with the 159 election superintendents across the state who are boots on the ground that actually run our elections.

I have that experience to do that day.

One.

Kate, it is now your turn to ask the next question.

No, that question I get to answer.

You're right.

This question, that answer that we just heard was from a career politician.

That's good to be on committees and name drop.

As a judge, we need evidence, verification and accountability, verifiable paper record is what we need with a documentation of a chain of custody.

You know, what about I am for paper ballots or machines, whatever it is that the voters need.

But I can tell you this much, when that call came from the president asking for 11,780 votes, he wasn't going to be able to get them from a machine count.

He was going to be able to get them from paper ballots.

So what I am for is, rather than lawmakers running around the state trying to tell us what's best, why don't we hear from the citizens to find out what the voters want?

And as long as we have accountability, verifiable evidence of the paper record, and we have documentary evidence of a chain of custody, that's what I'm for.

That's what a judge would be for.

That's what a lawyer would be for.

And that's how we'll stop them stuffing the ballot.

That's our time.

And now, Kate, it is your turn to ask the next question.

This question is also for both candidates.

The relationship between the Secretary of State's office and the state election Board has been contentious in recent years.

What what, if anything, would you do to repair that relationship?

And do you believe Secretary of State should sit on the state election board?

Let's start with Judge Reynolds.

I believe absolutely that the Secretary of State should sit on the elections board.

Partizan politics is the reason why Brad Raffensperger is not on there.

You see, you have a board that will do whatever.

Like my opponent, whatever Donald Trump wants them to do.

But one thing is clear.

Remember, as a judge and a lawyer, I follow the Constitution.

The Constitution says that the Secretary of State is the chief elections officer.

The authority that comes from the election board comes as a result of the General Assembly.

Do I want to work with the state Elections Board?

Yes, I do, but you have an executive director that went off without the approval of the board and asked the Department of Justice to intervene in our elections weeks before we're about to start early voting on tomorrow.

That is not authority.

That is following Donald Trump's playbook.

That's why the secretary of state on that board is very needed.

Thank you for the question.

Obviously, if I'm your next Secretary of State, I will get into into the office day one.

Because of my experience.

I've previously worked with the state elections board as a legislator.

I've worked with the state elections board, and I will get in the office and start to repair that relationship between the state elections board, the Secretary of State's office and the state legislature.

I have the relationships under the Gold Dome to work with them.

And if there's any changes that needs to be made, that's up to the General Assembly.

It has to be made through legislation, and a governor would have to sign it.

And whatever changes were made, if there were any changes, I will work with whatever process is put in place to ensure that our elections are ran and they're correctly and they're fair and they are trusted and they're transparent and secure.

Caleb, we go back to you for the next question.

Mr.. Both candidates, Georgia law requires Secretary of State to certify the state's election results after counties do.

Can you describe a scenario in detail where you would refuse to do so?

Let's start with Judge Reynolds.

As I have shared, I will follow the Constitution as a judge and a lawyer.

I've said we needed three things in our elections.

We needed verification.

We needed a verifiable paper record, and we need accountability with audits.

There is not a scenario in which I would not follow the tenets of the Constitution, because that's what I have done.

What is very, very important is that we do not have a federal takeover of our elections.

Federal government, Washington and Donald Trump, they don't get to say, what I'm waiting for is my opponent to stand up and say that Georgia elections belong to the people of Georgia.

That's what the Constitution says.

And as long as I am your Secretary of State, I will be that independent voice that you so desperately need, like Brian, like what we had with Raffensperger, who will stand up to Donald Trump and what he's trying to do.

Well, Caleb, I've actually worked through many certifications of elections in my time as deputy secretary of state under then Secretary of State Brian Kemp, as your next secretary of state, I will follow the Constitution.

I will follow the laws of Georgia to make sure everything is done correctly and working with our 159 counties as they certify their elections.

And I'll follow the law and the Constitution every step of the way to ensure that our elections are run fairly and transparently.

Kate, it's now your turn to ask the next question.

This is for Representative Fleming.

During the primary, you spoke about making it impossible for the left to cheat in elections.

What did you mean by that?

And can you cite any examples of such cheating in recent years.

As your next secretary of State?

I'm going to work hard every day to make sure there's no cheating from any Georgian in the state of Georgia.

We will make sure that if bad actors are playing in Georgia's elections, they will be gone after and we will take care of them and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I want to make sure every election is run fairly and securely and transparently so that Georgians can trust our elections.

I want Georgia to have the most trusted elections in the United States of America, and that's what I'll do as the next secretary of state, using my experience from my time serving as Deputy Secretary of State, my time serving in the executive branch, and my time serving in the Georgia General Assembly, where I've actually passed legislation around around election security and other important issues around the Secretary of State's office.

Caleb, please ask the next question.

Judge Reynolds, you've it sounds like you're open to both types of systems voting machines and hand-marked ballots.

But I've heard you talk about how you believe that hand-marked ballots might sometimes be less accurate than voting machines.

If that's the type of system that was ultimately settled on.

If you were Secretary of State, would you certify that system?

You're a bit inaccurate about what I said.

I actually said there is a difference between hand ballots and hand counted ballots, so that we're clear on that hand, ballots are absolutely used throughout this country.

But what I want to make certain that we do is let the people decide, not lawmakers, not partisanship.

That's what we've been doing.

You have to understand how concerned we all are to be.

This debate is very clear.

We're hearing talking points, the same talking points that when we're talking about liberal cheating, one thing you'll find about me, I am consistent in what I say.

No matter who I'm talking to, there's no liberal cheating.

None of that is going on.

We need someone who will be an independent voice for this.

These elections that we have.

So yes, I will follow the Constitution always.

It's what I am.

It's who I am.

But what I will not do is bow down to Donald Trump and his ask for 11,780 votes.

That I will not do.

That's our time, Kate.

You get you get the next question.

This is for both of you.

You've both talked about cutting red tape for small businesses.

What specific changes would you make?

Let's start with with Representative Flint.

Thank you.

Sorry.

Well, absolutely.

And as a state legislator, it's the number one constituent call.

Complaint I get is around professional licensing in the Secretary of State's office.

Georgia's not being able to get their professional license to get in the workforce.

We license everybody from general contractors, plumbers, electricians, barbers, cosmetologists to nurses.

And Georgia has been the number one state to do business in for the past 13 years.

If we want to be the number one state to do business in for 14-15 years, we have to get Georgians in the workforce quicker.

It cannot take weeks and months to get a license.

It cannot take weeks and months to get a renewal.

It goes back to experience matters.

When I served as deputy secretary of state Under Secretary Kemp, we were issuing new licenses in five days.

We were issuing renewals automatically.

As your next Secretary of State, I will work to bring reforms to the legislature to streamline this process, to get government out of the way.

It's my belief, if you want a professional license in this state, you meet the criteria that the state says you got to have.

You have the education required for that profession, and there's nothing in your criminal background that prevents you from working in that profession.

You should get that license automatically and get government out of the way.

That's what I will do.

As your next Secretary of State, I'll put my experience to work on day one.

I'm so glad you asked that question.

There's a lot of talk about experience, eight years of experience.

All right, eight years of failure under his leadership as the second in command, it was the largest data breach in the history of Secretary of State's office, 6 million Georgians, social security numbers, date of birth.

All of that was under his watch.

He failed the employees of the Secretary of State because instead of manning up to what he did, he tried to point the finger at someone else.

And as far as businesses, he failed you then because he's been talking about doing business, helping businesses.

You had eight years to help businesses.

And so where I come from, you don't get a promotion when you can't do what you did in eight years.

How are we expecting for you to do it now?

And as far as our people who are trying to get their license renewed, it has been abhorrent.

Under your leadership to now want to take credit for doing something that you broke because you can't fix it.

Mr.

Fleming, I'll give you a chance for rebuttal.

Well, thank you, Penny I'm glad you mentioned that because you've been talking a lot about that lately, but there was an investigation conducted at that time that attributed to the breach and employer's failure to to follow established procedures.

In response, the office at the time took immediate corrective action, including terminating that employee, recovering and confirming the destruction of the distributed CDS, strengthening security protocols, and implementing additional safeguards to prevent prevent any incidents in the future.

As your next Secretary of State, I will take every Georgians information very seriously and will protect it.

May I respond?

Um, no, we don't have time.

It's been a very, very spirited conversation.

And that is, in fact, all the time that we have for questions.

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

Penny Brown Reynolds, we will start with you.

This debate has shown you everything that you need to know.

Competence matters.

It's nice to say you have experience, but what have you done with that?

I can tell you that if you are tired of government not working for you, I mean working against you.

You've been struggling, trying to make the basics.

Voting is how we hold these political candidates, lifelong political candidates, to account.

We need someone who is independent, someone who cares about the people and who can deliver, not empty promises.

You sat in a position for eight years, and now you want us to give you a promotion.

Now, when you've been ducking and diving from all of the people in Georgia, calling everybody else's name because you don't have a record, you're running from a record.

I do everything that I say I'm going to do.

I'm not coming to have a job.

I'm coming to do this job, and you can count on that.

That is our time.

Tim Fleming, it is now your turn.

Well, first, I'd like to thank the Atlanta Press Club for holding this debate series.

Georgia.

As you can see, experience matters in this race.

You've heard a lot of rhetoric today from my opponent and name Collin experience matters.

As your next Secretary of State, I will be able to get to work day one, not have to have on the job training like my opponent will have to have.

I've been fortunate enough.

I've worked as Deputy Secretary of State under then Secretary of State Brian Kemp.

I've served in the Georgia House of Representatives, where I've led on election security legislation and licensing reform legislation to get Georgians back in the workforce quicker.

As your next secretary of State, I'll fight hard every day to ensure our elections are secure, fair, transparent and trusted.

And I'll work hard to make sure Georgians are getting in the workforce quicker by getting their professional licenses quicker.

I'm Tim Fleming.

I'm a husband, a father, a small business owner, and I'm humbly asking for your vote and your support on November 3 in the general election.

Thank you.

And God bless.

Well, 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 Crystal Edmundson thanks for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.