GA gubernatorial candidate Chris Carr talks crime, redistricting while in Columbus
Georgia Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Carr presented his plans to reduce crime and improve education and committed to supporting redistricting during a visit to Columbus, hours before Gov. Brian Kemp called for a special session to create new maps for the 2028 election.
Less than a week ahead of the May 19 election, Carr made a campaign stop Wednesday at The Office Sports Bar & Grill, where he met with local residents and answered questions about his platform for governor, telling supporters he aims to advance to a runoff in the Republican primary.
Healthcare executive Rick Jackson, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are also vying for the Republican nomination for governor.
Jackson and Jones have surged ahead in the polls as an onslaught of attack ads have heated up this competitive race. Carr said he has an opportunity to be a dark-horse candidate by gaining support from undecided voters and people who oppose negativity.
“There is going to be a runoff on June 16th,” Carr said. “And we intend to be one of the two that’s in it. So my pitch to you is very simple: If you are tired of the negativity and you are tired of the volume of advertising, there is a better choice. And if you are tired and angry that a rich guy and a guy’s rich dad are trying to buy your vote and buy the governor’s mansion, there is a better choice.”
Partisan gerrymandering and redistricting
While in Columbus on Wednesday, before Kemp signed a proclamation convening the Georgia General Assembly for a special session, Carr told the Ledger-Enquirer he was in favor of redistricting.
“I am not in favor of using race for government reasons,” he said. “It’s just not right. I am for treating everybody with dignity, value and worth.”
Referring to the 6-3 decision April 29, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race can’t be used to determine voting districts, Carr said he favors redrawing them for the 2028 cycle.
Carr also said he would not support ending partisan gerrymandering altogether.
“There’s a tradition in this country that whoever is the winner gets to draw the maps,” he said. “That’s how we’ve had it, whether you’re Republican, Democrat or Whig. You can go all the way back.”
If Muscogee County, which has a population that is around 50% Black, is gerrymandered to have no representatives from the Democratic Party, Carr said, he would support the map as long as it is “drawn based on political considerations only and not on race.”
Carr said he is concerned the partisan gerrymandering could mean every time a political party takes over a state legislature or becomes governor, they will be more focused on redrawing the map than on other issues.
“But that’s going to be why we have elections,” Carr said. “If the people of the state want that, they’ll keep folks. If they don’t, they don’t.”
Work to address crime in Columbus, throughout Georgia
Columbus is a model for how Georgia should address gang problems across the state, Carr said.
“It’s only because federal, state and local law enforcement and the community are willing to work together in Columbus,” he said. “That’s not happening all over the state.”
The Georgia anti-gang network was created in 2017, Carr said, and it brought people from all levels of law enforcement into the same room to improve communication, intelligence sharing and prosecution.
“How can we focus on proven anti-recruitment programs, so the kids never get in a gang to begin with?” Carr said. “That’s been our biggest challenge.”
It’s critically important to have a gang unit in each community, he said. Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Middle Georgia, Savannah and Albany have such units. Atlanta, Macon and Augusta also have human trafficking units, Carr said, and he wants this expanded to include Columbus.
When it comes to jails and prisons, Carr emphasizes these facilities are not mental health facilities.
“Our sheriffs are really struggling,” he said.
Treatment should be a focus in jails and prisons, Carr said, and sheriffs say the majority of people incarcerated are struggling with addiction or other behavioral health challenges.
“A lot of times they’ll bounce between a jail and a hospital — neither of which are a treatment facility,” he said.
He commends the state legislature for funding one hospital to treat mental health, Carr said, but he would push for a more regional effort statewide.
Jobs and education
One of his top priorities if elected governor would be jobs, Carr said.
“And jobs are based on the workforce,” he said. “Workforce is based on education. Education is based on literacy.”
It’s a “travesty” that only one in three children is reading at grade level in Georgia, he said. He would focus on phonics and literacy, utilizing literacy coaches and accountability, Carr said.
Carr would also encourage students who want to work with their hands to go into trades.
“We have great, world-class universities and colleges in the state, and that’s great,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to focus on that. And we’ve got to be able to focus on making sure we market to children, parents, counselors, board members and principals that (trade) is a great option as well because AI is here. We can lead, or we can get run over. It’s going to be interesting to see how the job market changes.”
The state most prepared for AI is the one that invests in its technical college system, Carr said, because people will be needed to build and maintain those systems.
“The future millionaires are in our technical college system,” he said.
When it comes to school choice, Carr said he supports it.
“The legislature has focused on the bottom 25% of schools to allow a pilot program,” he said.
Carr would provide this option to everyone, he said, because it would give an opportunity for lower-income families to have a “leg up”.
“You can have an excellent public education system and recognize that parents and children may look up and say public education is not it for me,” Carr said.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
