2014 Georgia Governor's race: on Crime

Andrew Hunt: Community rehab programs instead of incarceration

As governor, I want to keep families together, keep people in the workforce, and save taxpayers money. One of the best ways to approach this is through prison reform. Georgia operates the 5th largest prison system in the US, and it's costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Roughly 5% of tax dollars goes towards our incarceration systems. Georgia's legislators have considered cutting funds to our education and healthcare without even considering reducing the costs of our prisons. If we shrink our prison population by no longer incarcerating people for victimless crimes, we can help keep families together and reduce our tax dollar waste.

A great example of a cost-effective, smaller government is the prison reform in Texas. By closing 3 prisons, Texas has reunited families and reduced crime rates. They then spent a fraction of the cost of incarceration on creating community rehabilitation programs.

Jason Carter: No ban on the death penalty

So it goes in what may be the nation's most awkward legacy campaign. Political families--from the Roosevelts to the Kennedys, Bushes and Clintons--have long been a part of American politics. Carter's bid to unseat Gov. Nathan Deal, the Republican incumbent, is testing the strength and durability of the Carter name in Georgia, a red state that Democrats hope to turn blue. But it is also a test of something more: a deep bond between a 38-year-old grandson and an 89-year-old grandfather.