Past and present Governor candidates from Georgia: on Government Reform


Stacey Abrams: Protect voter's rights against voter suppression tactics

As Minority Leader, Stacey fought back voter suppression tactics and introduced legislation to expand access to the ballot. Through the New Georgia Project, Stacey registered more than 200,000 people of color, forced the restoration of 33,000 illegally canceled voter applications, and defeated attempts to intimidate voters. As Governor, she will oppose policies that seek to undermine the rights of Georgians.
Source: 2018 Georgia Governor website StaceyAbrams.com Aug 17, 2017

Stacey Abrams: Founded voter registration project

Dedicated to civic engagement, she founded the New Georgia Project, which registered more than 200,000 voters of color between 2014 and 2016.
Source: 2018 Georgia Governor website StaceyAbrams.com Aug 17, 2017

Brian Kemp: Stricter voter ID laws against threat of illegal voters

The wide-open race for Georgia governor seems likely to resurface a long-running feud between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams over voter rights. Kemp, who as secretary of state is Georgia's top elections official, and Abrams, the House minority leader and head of a voter registration group, have long sparred over election policy.

The two have long been on opposite sides of the debate over elections issues, with Kemp advocating for stricter voter ID laws to prevent what he called the threat of illegal voters casting ballots and Abrams contending those new rules could disenfranchise minorities, the disabled and the elderly.

But they clashed the sharpest during the 2014 after Abrams new voter registration group, the New Georgia Project, which said it submitted 86,000 voter registration forms during the 2014 cycle, but Kemp's office argued that tens of thousands of applications were either missing or had not been properly submitted.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 2018 Georgia governor race Apr 11, 2017

Stacey Abrams: Head of a voter registration group; focus on minorities

Republican Brian Kemp, who as secretary of state is Georgia's top elections official, and Democrat Stacey Abrams, the House minority leader and head of a voter registration group, have long sparred over election policy.

Kemp advocated for stricter voter ID laws to prevent what he called the threat of illegal voters casting ballots and Abrams contending those new rules could disenfranchise minorities, the disabled and the elderly.

But they clashed the sharpest during the 2014 after Abrams new voter registration group, the New Georgia Project, announced ambitious goals to register 800,000 minority voters within a decade. The group said it submitted 86,000 voter registration forms during the 2014 cycle, but Kemp's office argued that tens of thousands of applications had not been properly submitted. The voter group supported a coalition that sued Kemp's office again in 2016 over the cancellation of nearly 35,000 registration applications from 2013 to 2016 due to mismatched information.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 2018 Georgia governor race Apr 11, 2017

Stacey Abrams: Exact-match process violates Voting Rights Act

HB 268: Seeks to void a recent federal court settlement requiring the Secretary of State to refine its voter registration process to exclude the "exact matching" process that led to the unlawful cancellation more than 30,000 voter registration applications since 2013. The bill would also require non-partisan voter information groups and Election Protection groups providing to move their tables or booths beyond the 150 foot barrier and at least 25 feet away from voters standing in line--depending upon the length and location of lines of voters throughout the course of Election Day.

MY VOTE: NO. HB 268 would negatively impact reforms recently agreed to by the Secretary of State in the federal settlement of the "exact match" federal voting rights lawsuit and would likely lead to further expensive and time-consuming litigation. Furthermore, it likely violates the First Amendment, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act.

Source: 2018 Georgia governor campaign website StaceyAbrams.com Mar 30, 2017

Stacey Abrams: Stop redistricting voters of color to dilute their votes

HB 515: This bill amends the boundaries of multiple House legislative districts. Of most concern, the new map packs African-American voters from Republican HD 40 into heavily Democratic HD 53. In HD 111, the revised maps continue a process initiated in 2015 to dilute black votes by shifting voters into adjacent districts and by adding white voters to the district in 2017.

MY VOTE: NO. Voters of color are facing increased inconvenience by repeated shifts in their districts, in order to accommodate diminished GOP voting strength. With each redrawing of the lines, voters of color are shifted to new legislators and divided from neighbors.

Source: 2018 Georgia governor campaign website StaceyAbrams.com Mar 30, 2017

Brian Kemp: Protect our elections from fraud with Voter ID

Protecting our elections from fraud and criminal activity is a top priority for Secretary Kemp. He is a strong and vocal advocate for Voter ID laws requiring voters to show some form of identification to vote. When the Obama Justice Department and liberals in Washington tried to undermine Kemp's common sense election protection measures like the verification of citizenship of new registered voters, he sued them in federal court and won.

Secretary Kemp also implemented his Stop Voter Fraud website and Voter Fraud Hotline allowing citizens to report questionable election activities online or by phone. Additionally, Kemp's Investigations Division increased its partnerships with state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute voter fraud.

Under Secretary Kemp's leadership, Georgia's elections are secure, accessible and fair. Kemp continues his efforts every day to stop voter fraud and make it as easy as possible for all citizens to participate in the democratic process.

Source: 2018 Georgia Governor campaign website KempMeansBusiness.com Mar 15, 2017

Andrew Hunt: Erase laws instead of creating new ones

Law Erasers: Move away from the law-making mindset: The more laws there are, the less Freedom people and companies have. About 50% of our elected officials are attorneys, while attorneys only make up less than 2% of the population. Deal and Carter are both attorneys, and the laws they help create mark their successes. I will reduce laws and regulations, increasing freedom and reducing the cost of simply living life and doing business.

I will establish an open and transparent government. This means keeping Georgians informed. I will let people know what bills are being written and who is writing them. If any changes are being made to the bills, who made them? Most importantly, if any individuals or businesses receive perks from a bill, I want people to know who they are and what the benefits constitute of. That way, voters can be more informed as to whom they'd like to reelect. I'm here to serve the people, not my party or special interest groups. I will say no to deception and corruption!

Source: 2014 Georgia gubernatorial campaign website, AndrewHunt.us Aug 31, 2014

Andrew Hunt: Ensure easy access to voting, including electronic

We must ensure that there is easy access to voting, but that there is no improper voting or tabulation. Our current voting machines are aging and do not offer a hard copy record to audit. There are optional modern 'electronic' ways of voting but a person then would be tied to their vote so that voting could be verified (the personal voting record would remain confidential and be deleted once there is no dispute about winner from the candidates). Traditional voting with no name tied to a ballot of course should always be available, but we need to have a better system with audit capability of these. People must know it is a fair system and yields accurate results so they know that their vote matters. Additionally, there should be easier ballot access for all parties wanting to run for office.
Source: 2014 Georgia gubernatorial campaign website, AndrewHunt.us Aug 31, 2014

Jason Carter: Verifiable paper trail important for credibility in voting

Q: Do you support a voter verified paper audit trail in electronic voting?

A: I would rather see a paper trail. I have personally monitored elections in other countries. One of the most important aspect and credibility of those elections is a verifiable paper trail that people can look at and see that their votes have been counted. In order to achieve it, we have to figure out how much it costs. We have to do all the things that are required to make a real policy out of it. As a concept, I wish we had a paper trail. I would certainly call for it. I think it's important for credibility of that system. People need to know that their votes are counted.

Source: Atlanta Progressive News Q&A: 2014 Georgia Governor's race Feb 13, 2014

  • The above quotations are from Winners and Losers
    Gubernatorial candidates from Georgia.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Government Reform.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
Candidates and political leaders on Government Reform:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Aug 12, 2018