SAVANNAH, Georgia — Former President Bill Clinton offered an eleventh-hour endorsement on Monday of Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor who is running in Georgia’s competitive gubernatorial race against Republican businessman Rick Jackson to replace term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA).
With less than 24 hours until Election Day, Bottoms’s campaign released a video featuring Clinton, 80, talking up the Democrat’s record and encouraging Georgians to vote on Tuesday.
“I’m proud to stand with Keisha Lance Bottoms, and I hope you will join me in supporting her,” Clinton said in the video. “Georgia, vote for a governor who will put you first. Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms.”
Clinton touted Bottoms’s platform of expanding affordable housing, increasing pay for police and firefighters, balancing the budget without raising taxes, and expanding Medicaid as reasons that voters should support her campaign.
“I know a little something about what a governor can do to create opportunity, invest in education, and stand up for families,” said Clinton, the former governor of Arkansas. “Keisha is the leader Georgians need to stand up and fight for them and produce results. As mayor, she expanded affordable housing, raised pay for police and firefighters, and balanced the budget without raising taxes.”
Former President Barack Obama made a campaign stop outside Atlanta on Oct. 28, where he stumped for Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). The following day, former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned for Ossoff in Macon, Georgia, and called Bottoms “so talented.”
Although Democrats expect Ossoff to cruise to reelection, they are less convinced that Bottoms can replicate his success statewide.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls conducted in September and October revealed Ossoff had an 8.2% advantage over Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), while Bottoms trailed her opponent by roughly 1%.
WHY KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS IS TRAILING JON OSSOFF IN GEORGIA
Bottoms’s bid has been an uphill battle as a first-time gubernatorial candidate, while Ossoff has established a name for himself in Georgia and a national profile over the past six years.
Some voters who spoke with the Washington Examiner blamed racism and sexism for Bottoms’s lagging poll numbers. Others credited Ossoff’s charisma and deep coffers with his overperformance in the GOP-leaning state.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
