Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms debated against an empty podium during the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Governors Debate at the Georgia Public Broadcasting studio in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026. GOP nominee Rick Jackson declined to participate in the debate, instead spending the day flying around the state talking to reporters and supporters, with stops planned for Columbus, Macon, and Savannah, and ending the day with a rally near Augusta.
Bottoms and Jackson appeared together on the same stage last week for a town hall-style debate that will likely give Georgia voters their only side-by-side look at the candidates competing to be the state’s next top leader. Bottoms used the half-hour forum Monday night to promote her platform, such as expanding Medicaid, fully funding pre-K, and creating a fund for affordable and workforce housing. She largely avoided attacking her opponent, rarely gesturing to the empty podium as candidates often have in past debates when their opponents are absent.
During the debate, Bottoms had the opportunity to ask the podium a question she would have asked Jackson had he been there. She took the opportunity to discuss Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, which hasn’t been a big topic on the campaign trail so far. She pointed to comments Jackson made over the summer, which were reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that a doctor would need to have evidence to prove an abortion was necessary to prevent facing legal consequences under the Georgia law. His campaign has disputed that as a mischaracterization.
“If he were here, I would ask, how do you prove that you have been raped in order to get an abortion?” Bottoms said at the debate. “He’s not here because he’s on his private jet flying around the state rather than having to answer to the people of Georgia about this irresponsible position.”
Bottoms did ramp up her attack on Jackson when taking questions from reporters after the debate, calling Jackson a “coward” for declining to participate in the debate and saying that skipping a debate that is televised statewide is a disservice to voters. Jackson is the first candidate for governor in a general election to opt out of the Atlanta Press Club debate series since 1994.
“Rick Jackson refuses to show up and answer unscripted questions before the public and even before the press. And if he is doing that as a candidate, what is it that we should expect from him if he were ever to be elected as governor? There’s no reason he should not have been here tonight,” Bottoms said.
Shortly before Bottoms’ solo act, Jackson stood on a stage in Grovetown just outside of Augusta for a rally with Gov. Brian Kemp. Jackson defended his decision to skip Monday’s debate when talking to reporters in Atlanta, also with Kemp at his side. “I have visited thousands of Georgians for the last nine months. I’ve gone hundreds of places. I’ve not had one voter ask me a question about debate. That’s not what’s important to them,” Jackson said.
