Georgia gubernatorial candidates Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp shake hands before a debate that also included Libertarian Ted Metz at Georgia Public Broadcasting in Midtown October 23, 2018. in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Pool / Getty
The second and final debate between the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial candidates is set for Sunday night in Atlanta and comes with plenty at stake just slightly more than a week until Election Day.
Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams will look to carry the momentum from this weekend’s triumphant rally into Sunday night’s debate against incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp just about two weeks after the two squared off for their first debate this year.
The debate will be aired on local television stations and will also be streamed live on the internet for people to watch online. You can watch it on WSB-TV’s website by clicking here.
Kemp has been able to maintain his polling lead over Abrams, who is trailing by 9 percentage points in the latest poll. The Fox 5 poll had a limited sample size of just 550 people and may not truly reflect the will and intent of Georgia voters.
It was a similar polling situation during the first debate on Oct. 14, when Abrams easily outclassed Kemp on the issues and came across as the candidate who was more ready to be governor even as Kemp has held that position for nearly the past four years.
The good news for Abrams is that Black voters have led the record-breaking surge of early voting in Georgia. That bodes well for the Democratic nominee who has enjoyed an outsized amount of support from the coveted demographic that critics suspect were targeted by suppression in the 2018 governor’s race she lost to Kemp.
It was in that context that Abrams has been raising awareness about the potential for the same voter suppression tactics to be employed by Republicans during these midterm elections in Georgia, one of a handful of GOP-led states that have enacted election laws that notably make it harder to vote, especially for Black and brown people.
“In 2018, we had record turnout,” Abrams told reporters last week. “We had record turnout that shattered records for Democrats among communities of color and in that same election … we know that 85,000 Georgians were denied their right to vote due to voter suppression tactics that shut down their precincts. We know that 50,000 voters had their right to vote held hostage by the exact match process which was proven to be voter suppression tactics. We know that thousands of people stood in lines for hours because of voter suppression tactics.”
Sunday night will be one of the final times Abrams gets to make a televised case for her candidacy to Georgians.
The hour-long debate is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET and is set to take place at the Atlanta Press Club.
Local news outlet Channel 2 WSB-TV anchor Justin Farmer has been named as debate moderator.
If you’re unable to tune into local TV and watch the debate, there are multiple options to view it online via live stream.
The Atlanta Press Club will stream the debate live on its Facebook page, which you can find by clicking here.
The debate will also be streamed live on WSB-TV’s website, which can be accessed by clicking here.
The debate is also embedded on the page below.
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After 2020, Why Are People Questioning Stacey Abrams’ Ability To Galvanize Black Voters?
Did Killer Mike Snub Stacey Abrams By Saying Brian Kemp Is ‘Running An Effective Campaign’?
