Reese Chatman, Campus Carrier features editor
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8 It is about this time every two years when seemingly every advertisement is pushing for or against the election of a candidate. This election cycle, Georgia once again finds itself at the center of American politics with two pivotal races well underway. Incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock is running a tight race against Republican Herschel Walker. Simultaneously, incumbent Governor Brian Kemp is running for reelection against former Georgia Representative Stacy Abrams. At a time where it seems both parties are as divided as ever, it is vital that voters remain informed on the positions and of their potential elected officials on Georgia issues.
Warnock was born in Savannah, Ga. but spent his formative years in Atlanta, where he currently resides. Warnock previously served as pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same church Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served decades ago. He aligns himself with the Democratic party and has repeatedly described himself as a “pro-choice pastor.” He is an advocate of women’s reproductive rates and believes the overturning of Roe v. Wade to be “severely misguided.”
Gun control is an issue many are passionate about, especially in the state of Georgia. The National Rifle Association (NRA), which many view as the face of conservative gun owners, gave Warnock a grade of “F” on his firearm stances. The NRA grades politicians on a letter scale that is contingent on how strict they are on gun control with an “A” signifying they are light on gun control and an “F” signifying that they are very strict.
Warnock is an outspoken supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, even making history when he and Senator Ossof attended the Pride Parade in Atlanta on Oct. 9, making the both of them the first U.S. Senators in the state of Georgia to do so.
The current minimum wage in Georgia is $7.25 an hour. Warnock is an advocate for raising it to a “liveable wage” at $15 an hour. Walker is currently the Republican nominee for the Senate race. Walker has been a statewide celebrity for decades because he was a running back at the University of Georgia, winning a national championship in 1980 and the Heisman Trophy in 1982.
Walker is an advocate of more funding for the U.S. military and national security as a whole. He supports Trump’s original plan of building the wall.
Walker believes that 2020 Presidential election contained some amount of voter fraud. He alleged that there was “country wide election fraud” and has even tweeted a video supporting the overturning of the election.
Walker is a devout Christian, whose religious beliefs strongly oppose abortion. He believes that there should be zero exceptions on abortion bans.
Walker is an advocate for Second Amendment rights but supports programs for improving mental health in troubled youth to prevent school shootings rather than passing legislation to restrict gun usage. Contrary to Warnock, Walker is endorsed by the NRA.
Walker believes that the states should be left to decide their stance on same sex marriage. He opposes transgender rights wanting to “take men outside of women’s sports. God made man only male and female with no means of changing that.”
Kemp is the incumbent Republican nominee for the 2022 gubernatorial race. He currently holds an approval rating of about 53%.
Kemp opposes abortion, even signing into legislation the controversial heartbeat bill of 2019. This bill that was initially blocked from becoming law by federal courts until the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, which went into effect in July 2022.
Healthcare has remained a prominent issue under Kemp’s term as governor. He opposes a full expansion of Medicaid, advocating instead for work requirements to qualify for Medicaid.
Kemp has sparked a fair amount of controversy due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Towards the beginning of the pandemic, he instituted a stay-at-home order. In April, he lifted this and prohibited local government from instituting more strict mask and social distancing restrictions than the state.
Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. She previously ran a gubernatorial campaign against Kemp in 2018 and lost by 54,723 votes.
She is an advocate for reproductive rights for women and strongly opposes the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Contrary to Kemp, one of Abrams’ primary concerns for the state of Georgia is Medicaid expansion. She believes healthcare to be a right for all and believes an expansion would greatly increase the quality of life for low-income households.
2018. Courtesy of Abrams for Governor
Abrams wants to make efforts to improve the public school system. She advocates for it to have more funding and for teachers to have an increase in their salaries.
In America, the citizens have the power to choose their leaders. Although not mandatory, it helps to be an educated voter. This election cycle also includes the Secretary of State race between Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger and Democratic nominee Bee Nguyen. Raffensperger came under fire from Republicans during the 2020 election when he refused to work to overturn the election results in Georgia, following pressure from former Pres. Trump.
Nguyen is the first Vietnamese-American to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives. She has been in office since 2017 and is mostly known for her opposition to the 2021 Election Integrity Act. This act established restrictions on the voting process, including mandating voter identification on absentee ballots and expansion of in-person early voting.