Bottoms debates empty podium after Jackson skips Atlanta Press Club forum

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms debated an empty podium Monday night after Republican Rick Jackson declined to attend the Atlanta Press Club debate.

The two candidates are running for governor in the November general election.

Jackson, instead, spent the day travelling around the state campaigning in Columbus, Macon and Savannah and ending the day with a rally in Augusta with Gov. Brian Kemp.

Bottoms spent the half-hour forum promoting her platform. She said she wanted to replace the Georgia Pathways program by fully expanding Medicaid.

“This is an issue that’s impacting rural communities, hitting rural communities especially hard. These are red areas of the state, and I do believe this is an issue that we can work across the aisle to resolve,” she said.

Bottoms also said she supports fully funding pre-K and creating a fund for affordable and workforce housing.

Bottoms largely avoided taking jabs at her opponent. She said she would like to ask him about his thoughts on Georgia’s six-week abortion ban after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article reported that Jackson said a doctor would need to have evidence to prove an abortion was necessary to prevent facing legal consequences.

After the debate, Bottoms more openly attacked her opponent with reporters calling him a coward for declining to participate. According to The Georgia Recorder, Jackson is the first candidate for governor in a general election to refuse to participate in the Atlanta Press Club debate series since 1994.

Bottoms and Jackson did appear together for a town hall-style debate last week, which may be the only time Georgia voters see the candidates side by side.

The Georgia Recorder reports that Jackson’s campaign confirmed he would be campaigning alongside President Donald Trump during the president’s visit to Dalton on Friday.