11 Questions for Georgia’s Candidates for Governor

BY Atlanta Magazine - October 17, 2018

Abrams and Metz: Courtesy of their Campaigns; Kemp: Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

If you want to know where the proverbial buck stops in Georgia, here’s the place. The governor is the chief executive of state government and decides spending priorities and policy initiatives. Though a separate branch from the Georgia General Assembly, the Legislature, the governor has an oversized role—thanks to the power of the veto pen and the bully pulpit—as to which pieces of legislation live and die. Or at least that’s been the case with a Republican governor. If you care about education, economic development, the environment, transportation, women’s rights—basically anything involving Georgia’s present and future—then you should care about who occupies the governor’s office. Below, our 11 questions for the candidates and their responses, which have been edited for length and clarity.

Republican candidate Brian Kemp was asked to participate but did not respond to our requests. Here is his official campaign website.