Brian Kemp, Republicans take aim at Stacey Abrams as tight Georgia governor’s race nears an end

As the sun rose Wednesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp rolled into Columbus and continued his attacks on his Democratic opponent Stacy Abrams in a race that is a virtual dead heat, according to recent polling.

The race is about vision and two different directions, Kemp told more than 150 people gathered in a bowling alley parking lot on the north side of town..

“I don’t know of an election in Georgia —ever — where our families had so much at stake,” Kemp said. “And the contrasts are very clear.”

He said Abrams, who Tuesday had a slim lead in the latest poll released by Fox 5 in Atlanta and Opinion Savvy, is “running the most dishonest campaign that Georgians have ever seen.”

The poll had Abrams ahead for the first time with a 48-47 advantage, well within the margin of error.

There is a good reason she is running a dishonest campaign, Kemp said.

“She is hiding that radical, extreme agenda that she has,” he said. “She doesn’t want to lower taxes. ... She wants to raise them and reverse that tax cut. She wants bigger government. And most importantly, she wants a radical government takeover of health care.”

Both campaigns are working hard to capture votes in the final days. The three-week early voting period ends Friday and more than 1.5 million Georgians have cast ballots. In Muscogee County, nearly 25,000 of the more than 120,000 registered voters have already cast ballots.

Abrams has alleged that Kemp has participated in voter suppression in his role as secretary of state.

“I think it’s great we are having this high turnout and Georgians will see that all of this stuff about voter suppression is just a distraction and part of Stacey Abrams’ liberal agenda,” Kemp said. “People are voting in record numbers right now. And that’s a good thing for our state.”

Kemp was accompanied by other Republicans seeking everything from local offices to statewide posts.

Congressman Drew Ferguson, R-West Point, told the early-morning crowd that the Republicans who have dominated state politics for the past 16 years had a fight on their hands.

“We’re ready for it,” Ferguson told the crowd. “... We are going to lead the fight to keep this state from being taken over by a socialist. We can not under any circumstances allow our great state to become the next California.”

Republicans have taken aim at Abrams and the Democrats and that was in full view Wednesday morning when Kemp and those up and down the ticket came to Columbus on a statewide tour.

Geoff Duncan, who is running for lieutenant governor, was echoing what Kemp and the others were saying.

“We got Democrats from 49 states trying to run against us,” Duncan said. “Forty-nine other states are trying to pick on Georgia. They don’t care about Georgia. They don’t care about your jobs. They don’t care about your kids. They care about trying to change who we are and we can’t let it happen.”

The message must be sent to the outsiders on Election Day, Duncan said, calling the names of prominent Democratic donors Michael Bloomberg and George Soros.

“On Nov. 6 we need to have people from this community show up like never before, so on Nov. 7 when guys like Bloomberg and Soros wake up they will decide they never want to send another dime to the state of Georgia again,” Duncan said.