November 17, 2020

Getting to Know the GA Runoff Candidates


Information about this election can be found here.
 

Regular Senate Election

The following is a selection of information courtesy of BallotPedia.org and the candidates' campaign websites.

  Jon Ossoff David Perdue
Campaign website https://electjon.com/ https://perduesenate.com/
Please list 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?
  1. Too many Georgians can't afford health care. The high cost is driven by the corrupt influence of the insurance and drug industries in Washington - a devastating product of our broken campaign finance system. In the U.S. Senate, I'll work to make quality health care a simple, affordable, and reassuring reality for ​all of us by supporting​ Medicaid expansion, a crackdown on price gouging, expansion of the U.S. Public Health Service, and federal investment in health clinics. I'll vote to add a nonprofit public option to the ACA exchange while defending every citizen's right to private insurance.

  2. Lobbying and political contributions should not buy bailout money, unfair subsidies, or impunity for labor and environmental abuses. But as long as money buys political influence, our government's policies will favor the most powerful special interests. The health insurance, pharmaceutical, and fossil fuel industries have bought the allegiance of my opponent, Sen. David Perdue, and he in turn has voted in their interests rather than Georgia's interests. I run a business that investigates bribery and the abuse of power worldwide. I'm not taking contributions from corporate PACs, and my first act in the Senate will be to back a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

  3. The government's financial safety net for Wall Street is vast & instantaneous, while help for ordinary people & smaller firms has been meager & slow. Rather than relying on subsidies for investment banks as economic stimulus & hoping benefits trickle down, I'll support policies that help Georgia's families make & save more money: fast & direct emergency relief during economic crises, lower taxes for all but the wealthiest, debt-free public college, free vocational training, & health care guaranteed at an affordable price. And to create millions of jobs, revitalize our economy, and alleviate poverty, I'll support a historic infrastructure program to lay the foundation for decades of prosperity, sustainability, and health.
Perdue did not answer the Ballotpedia survey for 2020.
COVID-19

Congress and the Administration should focus on boosting the health response, shoring up Americans’ finances, and speeding up containment and adaptation so Americans can return to work and normal life as soon as possible.

I strongly encourage all Georgians to do their part to protect themselves and their communities by following the recommended safety precautions: wash your hands, watch your distance, and wear a mask.

Economy

This crisis is laying bare structural inequity and corruption in U.S. economic policy. Similar to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, while hardship is concentrated among working- and middle-class families and smaller businesses, the fastest and biggest emergency relief has gone straight to the top.

  • Rolling back regulations and take action to unleash GA's energy potential
  • Cut taxes for GA families and small businesses
  • Roll back Dodd-Frank regulations
Healthcare
  • The link between health and wealth must be broken. It is essential that every single American has great health care. And Georgia already faced a shocking health crisis, with among the highest rates of uninsurance and maternal mortality in the country.
  • I’ll work to make great health insurance a simple, affordable, reassuring reality for all of us. Other countries have achieved this. So can we.
  • I’ll vote to protect and strengthen Medicare, and I support offering all Americans a public health insurance option as an affordable alternative to private insurance.
  • I’ll vote to crack down on price gouging by drug companies and make more generic medicine available.
  • I’ll introduce legislation to expand the U.S. Public Health Service so it can recruit, train, and deploy more medical teams to clinics across Georgia and the nation.
  • I believe in protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and I authored the PROTECT Act to do just that.
  • Worked to pass the 21st century CURES Act, streamlining regulations to get life-saving drugs to market faster and cheaper.
  • I’m working with President Trump and the Senate to ensure transparency in prescription drug pricing.
Education
  • To improve the quality of primary and secondary education, I support increasing teacher pay and breaking the link between a community’s wealth and the funding available for its public schools.
  • I’ll work to make trade school and vocational training free for every American.
  • I’ll work to make four-year degrees at our public colleges 100% debt-free.
  • I support a generous forgiveness program for those struggling to pay off their student loans, caps on interest rates to relieve financial stress for all borrowers, and a program that links Federal student loan payments to income so paying off student loans is never a financial hardship.
  • I support school choice because a student’s zip code should not determine whether they have access to quality education.
  • When COVID hit, I wrote the SCHOOL Act – a commonsense plan to help students and teachers safely return to school or learn virtually until it is safe to return.
  • I proposed bipartisan School Safety Clearinghouse Act to enhance school safety nationwide through communication, innovation, and new technology.
(Critical) Infrastructure
  • I’ll push for an unprecedented American infrastructure program that includes big, overdue investments in transportation and transit, clean energy, energy efficiency, public health, communications, research and development, emergency response, and environmental cleanup.
  • Infrastructure is often taken for granted. It includes energy production and the grid, transit, roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, aviation, ports and waterways, communications, cybersecurity, water treatment and distribution, housing, and public health.
  • Strong, advanced infrastructure is also essential for resilient and effective emergency response – whether pandemic, natural disaster, national security, or the totally unexpected.

I’m committed to strengthening our critical infrastructure. The Port of Savannah recently became the top U.S. port for agricultural exports and is the third fastest growing port in the country. After nearly 20 years of failures by career politicians, we’ve secured full federal funding for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP), which is expected to be completed by early 2022.

Roe v. Wade / Protecting Life
  • I am pro-choice. I believe that women, not the government, should control the private, personal, and complex decision whether to terminate a pregnancy.
  • In the Senate, I will only vote to confirm federal judges who pledge to uphold Roe v. Wade.

Being pro-life is a deeply held conviction for me. I believe we have a moral obligation to promote a culture that values life and protects the innocent, including the unborn.

Gun Safety Reforms / 2nd Amendment
  • I support the Second Amendment and I respect the overwhelming majority of gun owners who recognize that guns aren’t toys; they are lethal and dangerous tools.
  • I support universal criminal history checks for gun purchases, red flag laws to protect family members and domestic partners concerned about the mental health of their loved ones, and closing the gun show loophole.
  • I support a ban on the sale of semi-automatic rifles (“assault weapons”) and high-capacity magazines to the general public.

The right to bear arms is a freedom enshrined in the Constitution. We should focus on enforcing the gun laws already on the books to keep our families and communities safe.

Immigration
  • Our country, like any country, must know and control who crosses our borders, and strong border security doesn’t require us to sacrifice our moral principles, our commitment to human rights, or our American identity as a haven for people fleeing persecution and striving for opportunity.
  • I’ll support an immigration policy that strengthens our borders, puts American workers first, respects human rights, and creates a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who are already here and otherwise follow the law, especially those brought here as children.
  • And instead of making life hell for migrants, immigration enforcement should crack down on the employers of undocumented immigrants, like The Trump Organization.
  • We must close loopholes in our immigration law that allow dangerous criminals to enter our country and move towards a merit-based immigration system.
  • Our border patrol needs additional resources to stop illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and sex trafficking.
  • We need physical barriers at strategic points along our southern border.
Criminal Justice Reform / Safety
  • In the Senate, I will champion and fight tirelessly to pass a New Civil Rights Act that strengthens civil rights laws and advances comprehensive criminal justice reform.
  • Race and class disparities in policing, prosecution, and sentencing must be ended nationwide.
  • I will work to reverse the militarization of local police forces, enhance due process and human rights protections for all citizens, ban private prisons, end cash bail, reform prisons and raise conditions of incarceration to humane standards, abolish the death penalty, legalize cannabis, and end incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses.
  • I’ll also support more federal law enforcement resources to attack organized crime, human trafficking, racketeering, money laundering, fraud, espionage, and corruption.
  • Law & Order
    I believe we need police and criminal justice reform in order to make sure equal justice for all Americans. The vast majority of our police officers serve honorably, and I’m committing to providing them the resources they need to keep our communities safe.
  • National Defense
    Our military installations in Georgia play a critical role in our National Defense strategy. I’m committed to supporting our military personnel and families in Georgia and across the country.
    In addition to rebuilding our military, securing our borders and fixing our immigration law is necessary to ensure our national security.

Special Senate Election

The following is a selection of information courtesy of BallotPedia.org and the candidates' campaign websites.

  Raphael Warnock Kelly Loeffler
Campaign website https://warnockforgeorgia.com/ https://www.kellyforsenate.com/
Jobs and the Economy

Reverend Warnock believes that we need to rebuild an economy that works for everyone. He understands that we need to protect the dignity of work and fight for fair wages and equitable employment practices in the workplace. He knows that instead of continuing to disinvest in public education and assistance, we need to focus on investing in our children’s education and offer multiple paths for folks to attain the American dream, including:

  • Listening to the experts to take steps to get the coronavirus under control, including supporting robust testing, contact tracing, and basic preventive safety like the use of face masks.
  • Better supporting those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and working to fund unemployment and other systems that have been neglected by Washington.
  • Working to support transparency around economic development programs and ensuring the small businesses that are drivers of our economy are not ignored from programs like the Paycheck Protection Program in favor of wealthy corporations that are politically well-connected.
  • Protecting the dignity of work, including honest wages, protected retirement, and fair overtime compensation.
  • Encouraging technical and vocational training, and apprenticeships to meet the needs of an evolving economy.
  • Revoking tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs and supporting made-in-America incentives.
  • Helping small business owners, especially entrepreneurs of color and women, attain capital and support.
  • Supporting pay equity across the board for all Georgians.
  • Fighting against burdensome regulations on small businesses.
  • Protecting Georgia’s film industry from political extremism.
  • Advocating for a livable wage to ensure the dignity of working people.
Thanks to bold conservative leadership on the state and federal level, our unemployment rate in Georgia - and throughout the country - is at historic lows. Our economy is growing and American families are finally seeing growth in their 401ks. As a businesswoman and political outsider, Kelly is working in Washington to advance pro-growth policies that keep our state and country moving in the right direction. She is proud to champion President Trump's economic agenda to Keep America Great!
Healthcare

As a U.S. Senator, Rev. Warnock will fight with conviction and courage to:

  • Listen to the experts to take steps to get the coronavirus under control, including supporting robust testing, contact tracing, and basic preventive safety like the use of face masks.
  • Protect, improve and build upon the Affordable Care Act.
  • Defend protections for pre-existing conditions.
  • Provide comprehensive access to reproductive and mental health services.
  • Support legislation to lower the costs of prescription drugs, including legislation to authorize the federal government to negotiate with drug companies to bring down prices.
  • Encourage Medicaid expansion and support rural and urban hospitals.
  • Support innovative solutions to expanding affordable health care access, like allowing access to a public option through early Medicare buy-in.
  • Fight back against efforts by Washington politicians to slash Medicare funding.
Like you, Kelly Loeffler knows that we need accessible, affordable healthcare in Georgia. On the HELP Committee, Kelly will partner with the President to lower prescription drug prices, end surprise medical billing, and help put people ahead of the special interests. Just like Governor Kemp, Kelly wants to ensure a better, brighter, and healthier future for our state.
Education

By giving every child access to an affordable and quality education, we can rebuild the ladder of opportunity and make the American Dream a possibility for all. In the Senate, Reverend Warnock will work to:

  • Improve quality of elementary and secondary education.
  • Invest in and expand robust Pre-K education.
  • Strengthen nutritional programs in schools.
  • Fully fund Pell grants.
  • Reduce higher education costs, ease student debt, and back forgiveness programs.
  • Support vocational, trade, and apprenticeship education.
  • Fight for teacher pay and resources for schools.
 
Infrastructure

In the Senate, Reverend Warnock will advocate for:

  • Repairing our crumbling roads and bridges, that create good-paying jobs.
  • Innovation in air, water and ground transportation, such as creating high speed rails to connect Metro Atlanta and South Georgia, and the expansion of our coastal ports.
  • Investing in our aging water infrastructure including green infrastructure to deliver safe, affordable, and clean drinking water, and prevent flooding and pollution in our neighborhoods.
  • Reducing traffic pollution by improving and expanding public transportation.
  • Investing in multi-modal transit to build communities of roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks.
  • Increasing funding for local project developments in historically underserved areas and communities of color.
  • Investing in technology like broadband to connect Georgians to critical services like telemedicine and virtual classrooms.
  • Protecting major transportation hubs that are critical to our economy, like Hartsfield Jackson Airport and the port of Savannah.
  • Researching and investing in infrastructure around clean energy and transportation.
 
Choice / Life

Warnock believes in a woman’s right to choose and that it is a decision between her and her doctor – not the government. He knows the importance of family planning and contraceptive access to achieving fair and equal economic outcomes. That’s why in the U.S. Senate, he will

  • Fight to protect access to quality, affordable reproductive health care.
  • Support the Affordable Care Act’s preventive care protections for access to birth control, cancer screenings, and other life saving care.
  • Push to root out the biases in our health care system that result in deadly inequalities, such as higher maternal mortality rates among Black women.
  • Support judicial nominees that support a woman’s right to choose and uphold Roe v. Wade.
  • Oppose all partisan attacks defunding health care providers like Planned Parenthood.
A devout Christian, Kelly Loeffler is unapologetically pro-life. During her short time in the U.S. Senate, she has co-sponsored four bills to protect the unborn. She is proud to be endorsed by Susan B Anthony List - a leading pro-life organization in America.
2nd Amendment   Growing up on a farm, Kelly learned how to shoot and hunt at a young age. She is a strong supporter of our 2nd Amendment Rights and firmly opposes every effort to undermine our Constitutional Rights.
National Security and Illegal Immigration   Thanks to career politicians in Washington, our borders are broken and public safety has been completely compromised. Kelly Loeffler is 100% committed to completing President Trump's border wall, deporting MS-13 gang members, and completely reforming America's legal immigration system.
Criminal Justice Reform

In the Senate, Warnock will work to:

  • Responsibly fund police departments while increasing accountability and ensuring our communities can support critical services outside of the criminal justice system.
  • Reduce senseless gun violence;.
  • Reform the bail system and end mass incarceration.
  • End the use of privatized prisons.
  • Ensure returning citizens can reenter society with access to adequate resources and support.
 
Agriculture (& Rural Georgia)

In the Senate, Reverend Warnock will:

  • Defend the critical role agriculture plays in the economy.
  • Ensure that farmers have a seat at the table and an economic incentive as we address climate change.
  • Expand our access to markets for Georgia grown products.
  • Increase assistance from USDA, FEMA and other agencies tasked with protecting workers and producers devastated by natural disasters and other threats.
  • Push for resources that help our farmers adopt more sustainable and regenerative practices.
  • Ensure that the Department of Agriculture pursues policies to increase protections and expand access to resources to small family farms, Black, and minority farmers.
  • Fight trade policies that harm Georgia farmers.
Growing up on a farm, Kelly knows firsthand the opportunities and challenges that exist in rural communities throughout our state and country. As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, she is working to advance policies that keep every part of our state - including Rural Georgia - growing. From High-Speed Internet Access to fair trade deals that keep family farms strong and prosperous, Kelly Loeffler is a champion for farmers, agri-business leaders, and rural families in the Peach State.