With eight days left before the general election, Georgia Democrats’ two top-of-the-ticket candidates brought in reinforcements and a fresh infusion of cash.
US Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is seeking a second term against Republican US Rep. Mike Collins, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor, rallied supporters Monday at a canvass launch in Atlanta. They were joined by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA).
Beshear used the stage to announce that the DGA will put another $5 million into Bottoms’ race. The group has already contributed more than $10 million, bringing its total commitment to more than $15 million. It’s a sign that national Democrats see Georgia’s open governor’s seat as one of the year’s top pickup opportunities.
The new money arrives as polls show a deadlocked race between Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson, the billionaire healthcare executive. Jackson has spent nearly $200 million of his own fortune in his bid to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp.
“No candidate has ever faced the amount of spending that I am facing in this state—in the history of Georgia—and this race is still tied,” Bottoms told the crowd.
Ossoff’s own reelection race looks less close. He leads Collins 48% to 40% in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s most recent poll. Other recent public polls have also shown Ossoff ahead by margins ranging from about 4 to 10 points. The race is one of the most closely watched nationally, and Democrats likely need to hold it to have a path to a Senate majority.
Both Bottoms and Ossoff emphasized the stakes of this election, particularly when it comes to healthcare access.
“Elections have life-or-death consequences,” Ossoff said. He argued that Georgia Republicans’ refusal to expand Medicaid has left federal money on the table that could have helped keep the state’s hospitals, particularly rural ones, afloat. He said that has resulted in unnecessary suffering and even death among Georgians.
Bottoms held up Beshear as proof that expansion can work in a conservative-leaning state. Kentucky expanded Medicaid in 2014 under Beshear’s father, then-Gov. Steve Beshear, and the program grew to cover roughly 600,000 people. Andy Beshear has defended it since taking office in 2019, despite a Republican-controlled legislature.
“We know that Medicaid can be expanded in states with red legislatures because we know that healthcare transcends party lines,” Bottoms said.
Republicans have long countered that full expansion would cost the state too much over time, even with the federal government covering most of the bill.
Bottoms: “It ain’t over until it’s over”
Georgians have turned out in record numbers during early voting. More than 188,000 voted in person on the first day of early voting, Oct. 13, a midterm record and about 40% more than in 2022, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Overall early voting turnout topped 1 million by Oct. 20.
The early data holds encouraging signs for Democrats: Black voters account for about 35% of early ballots, and women outnumber men by roughly 10 points, according to the AJC.
But Bottoms warned against complacency. “It ain’t over until it’s over,” she said. “We don’t want to be overtaken on Election Day.”
Her caution reflects a familiar pattern: In recent elections, Democrats have been more likely to vote early, while Republicans have been more likely to vote in person on Election Day.
Early voting in Georgia runs through Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can find their polling place and sample ballot on the state’s My Voter Page.
