A Senior Biden Advisor Running for Georgia Governor Just Used Her Only Debate to Confess Her Plans for Trump

Keisha Lance Bottoms had a single night on stage to convince Georgia she belongs in the governor's mansion.

She brought the deadliest stretch of killings Atlanta had seen in decades onto that stage with her.

Her big move was a promise to President Trump that Georgia Republicans will not soon forget.

Bottoms Says She Will Take the Trump Administration to Court

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson met on October 6 for their first and only scheduled debate before the November 3 election.

Bottoms had been spoiling for this fight for weeks, mocking her opponent as "Slick Rick" and accusing him of ducking her.

Once the cameras rolled, she went after Jackson's July rally pledge to be President Trump's favorite governor.

"I will stand up to Donald Trump when necessary," Bottoms said.

Then she went further and said she would sue the federal government if it came to that.

That is the plan.

A Georgia governor whose answer to the President of the United States is a lawsuit.

Jackson did not take the bait.

"I don't owe anybody anything," he said, promising to stand up for every Georgian.

Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive who rose out of Georgia's foster care system, beat Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones in the primary.

President Trump endorsed him for the general election in July.

On the debate stage, Jackson said he wants a strong working relationship with the White House so federal dollars keep flowing to Georgia.

That is a governor focused on results, not cable news hits.

He also pledged to cut the state income tax in his first term or walk away from a second.

Bottoms countered with a pledge to suspend the grocery tax.

She also pitched free technical and community college, statewide preschool, and an affordable housing trust fund.

Atlanta Buried 157 Homicide Victims in 2020 and Bottoms Blamed the Governor

In June 2020, rioters torched the Atlanta Wendy's where police had shot Rayshard Brooks.

Armed agitators were allowed to barricade the area around it for weeks.

On July 4, 2020, eight-year-old Secoriea Turner was shot dead near that barricade.

Atlanta finished 2020 with 157 homicides under Bottoms – the most since 1996.

The city topped that with 158 more in 2021.

Rather than own the carnage, Bottoms publicly pinned the surge on Governor Brian Kemp for reopening Georgia early during COVID.

She also pointed to easy access to guns, kids stuck out of school, and out-of-towners crowding Atlanta's nightspots.

Kemp fired back that fighting crime takes "someone to back their law enforcement agency up," and noted that Colorado and Oklahoma had reopened early too.

His administration sent in extra state resources, and roughly 3,100 arrests followed in two months.

Things got so bad that Buckhead residents launched a push to break away from the city entirely.

Bottoms skipped a second term and landed a job in the Biden White House.

Bottoms Wants to Freeze the License Plate Cameras Sheriffs Rely On

The crime fight came up again on the debate stage.

Bottoms said she would support a moratorium on new Flock license plate cameras across Georgia.

Plenty of conservatives have real privacy concerns about the cameras, and six Richmond County deputies were arrested for misusing them.

Jackson's answer is hard limits on abuse while keeping the cameras that help catch criminals.

Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley credits them with driving down burglaries, armed robberies, and homicides in his county.

"We are more beneficial with Flock than without Flock," Brantley said.

Jackson also argued that sheriffs should not be stuck acting as mental health providers.

Bottoms answered that she made mental health services a priority as mayor and handed police a big pay raise.

Law enforcement has already picked a side.

Jackson has the backing of 104 of Georgia's 159 sheriffs, and two Democrat sheriffs crossed party lines to endorse him.

"As governor, I will always have the backs of law enforcement," Jackson said.

If Bottoms wins, she would be Georgia's first Democrat governor since 1998.

Bottoms Plans to Fight Trump After Losing Control of Atlanta

Georgians do not have to guess how Keisha Lance Bottoms handles a crisis.

Atlanta lived it.

Back-to-back years of record killings, a little girl gunned down on the Fourth of July, and a wealthy neighborhood trying to flee the city.

She blamed somebody else.

Now she wants the governor's mansion, and she is already lining up a legal fight with Washington.

Georgians watched the Bottoms experiment play out in Atlanta, and the whole state does not need the sequel.

Sources:

• Megan Butler, "Georgia's Gubernatorial Candidates Debate for First and Last Time," Courthouse News Service, October 6, 2026.
• WTVM, "From Grocery Taxes to Flock Cameras," WTVM, October 7, 2026.
• Molly Parks, "Rick Jackson Dodges Georgia Governor Debate With Keisha Lance Bottoms," Washington Examiner, September 23, 2026.
• Talia Kaplan, "'Fed Up' Georgia Gov. Kemp Rips ATL Mayor Who Blames Crime Surges on COVID Reopenings," Fox News, June 21, 2021.
• WRDW, "'The Good Outweighs the Bad' With Flock Cameras, Richmond County Sheriff Says," WRDW, September 4, 2026.
• Atlanta News First, "New Jackson Ad Reignites Bitter Fight Over Bottoms' Record as Atlanta Mayor," Atlanta News First, September 11, 2026.
• Tim Darnell, "Rick Jackson Campaign Announces Endorsements From 104 Georgia Sheriffs," Atlanta News First, August 21, 2026.