Lt. governor candidates square off in Atlanta Press Club debate

ATLANTA - With just three weeks to go until Election Day, the candidates vying to be Georgia's next lieutenant governor faced off in a debate in Midtown Tuesday.

Democrat Charlie Bailey, Republican Burt Jones and Libertarian Ryan Graham shared the stage in the Atlanta Press Club (APC) Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

One of the top issues during the event was the state's "heartbeat" abortion ban, which went into effect this summer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.  The law prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of pregnancy.  

"I believe that the six-week abortion ban that has been passed is an infringement on the women of Georgia and their right to make their own healthcare decisions," said Bailey, who said he would push to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade in Georgia law.

Graham, however, said there should not be laws about abortion at all.

"I believe in the sovereignty of women over their own bodies and I don't think that politicians should have control over their bodies," said Graham.

He argued that increased access to contraception and improved birth control education would better prevent abortions than laws.

During the APC primary debate for lt. governor in May, Jones said he would ban abortion in Georgia completely.

"I've always sided on the side of life," said Jones.

He has since softened that position.

"In 2019, we passed a bill that did have exemptions," Jones said Tuesday.  "It was in the case of rape, in the case of incest and the well-being of a mother and so I supported that bill then."  

Recent polling shows Jones leads Bailey in the race with Graham in third place.

The two front-runners traded pointed jabs during the section of the debate where they were allowed to ask a question of one of their opponents.  

Bailey questioned Jones about his decision to join 15 other "fake electors" at the state Capitol in Dec. 2020 to cast votes for then-President Donald Trump, despite the fact that Joe Biden had won the state's electoral votes.  

"My question to you is are you finally ready to take responsibility for your actions and apologize to the people of Georgia for those undemocratic actions?"  Bailey asked.  

"Well, here we are again, a different race, but same accusations," said Jones.

A panelist had asked Jones about the same thing earlier in the debate.

"We had court cases that were going on at the time and it was a procedural move that we knew would not move forward if those court cases did not move forward," Jones explained. 

When it was his turn, Jones asked Bailey about his brief suspension from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office during his time there.

"You were suspended without pay back in 2017 for actions unbecoming of the office of D.A.  Would you like to explain to the voters what that was, that was so unbecoming for the office of Fulton County D.A.?" Jones asked.

"I'm proud of my time as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in Fulton County," Bailey answered.  "I prosecuted hundreds of cases including cases where folks were accused of crimes like murder and violent kidnapping, domestic abuse.  I'm not going to be lectured by somebody that is currently under FBI investigation as we speak for multiple felonies."

In his rebuttal, Jones accused Bailey of going on a golf trip rather than going after "hardened criminals."  

Speaking to the media after the debate, Bailey said Jones was "confused."

"I tried that case," said Bailey.  "It was a two co-defendant murder case.  I gave the closing argument and the jury convicted both those individuals."