Candidates for Georgia lieutenant governor, Sen. Greg Dolezal and Sen. Josh McLaurin, participated in a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and 11Alive. Early voting has already begun across the state, with nearly 189,000 ballots cast. The race is becoming increasingly contentious as both candidates seek to appeal to undecided voters and explain why their opponent is the wrong choice.
Sen. Josh McLaurin, the Democratic candidate from Sandy Springs, is running as a consensus candidate. He has emphasized his ability to work with Republicans in the state Legislature, even as he advocates for policies such as expanding Medicaid, repealing the state’s six-week abortion ban, and raising the state’s minimum wage.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, the Republican candidate from Cumming, has focused his campaign on traditional conservative goals, including cutting state income and property taxes and expanding Georgia’s school voucher program. He has also incorporated culture war issues into his campaign, such as pledging to oppose sharia law, religious rules for how Muslims live and worship.
Dolezal criticized McLaurin during the debates, suggesting that his views on public safety and criminal justice reform are out of step with members of the Democratic party. “I respect that he firmly believes what he believes, but what he believes belongs in California,” Dolezal said. “It doesn’t belong here in Georgia.”
McLaurin, in turn, questioned Dolezal about his ties to President Donald Trump, accusing him of revamping his website after the primary runoff election to make references to Trump less prominent. He also criticized an AI-generated ad Dolezal published during the Republican primary that depicted Muslims terrorizing white Georgia residents, characterizing him as “the Mike Collins of this race.” “He may be a state-level politician, but he is bringing MAGA and Trumpism to Georgia,” McLaurin said.
On healthcare, the two candidates took opposing positions. McLaurin pledged to fully expand Medicaid, arguing that Georgia’s current policies leave too many people uninsured and struggling with healthcare costs. “There are hundreds of thousands of people in Georgia who do not have coverage and have to make decisions about fixing a car [or] getting something checked out at the doctor,” he said, adding that rural Georgia has been hit particularly hard by declining healthcare coverage rates. He also criticized Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature Pathways to Coverage program, arguing that it “gave more money to Deloitte consultants than it did for care.”
Dolezal, on the other hand, supported an “intelligent” Medicaid expansion plan introduced by Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson. He argued that fully expanding Medicaid would result in some Georgians being forced off their private insurance and onto a state-run insurance plan. “What we do not need to do is move people from private plans that they have through their employer or through the exchange onto the government plan,” he said.
