Kemp makes rare visit to suburbs; Abrams appears on national TV

CUMMING — It was something of a rare sight in the general election campaign: Republican Brian Kemp darting on Tuesday from one northern Atlanta suburb to another on Tuesday trying to rev up conservatives.

Though his campaign headquarters is in Atlanta, the bulk of his bus tour visits have centered on rural Georgia areas he needs to win by big margins in Georgia’s race for governor to defeat Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Less attention, from the candidate at least, has been devoted to the densely populated and competitive suburbs that ring Atlanta. There were more than a few operatives who privately expressed a sense of relief to see Kemp showering attention on the area.

His stops in Cumming and Woodstock attracted hundreds of voters, and he had other visits scheduled in Marietta and Roswell. Democrats have put a bull’s-eye on the close-in suburbs, which were once solidly conservative but transformed into areas of opportunity for the party with Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016.

It’s also the home to Georgia’s two most competitive U.S. House seats, and both Republican incumbents — U.S. Reps. Karen Handel of Roswell and Rob Woodall of Lawrenceville — joined Kemp at several of the stops. So did U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville, one of the chamber’s top Republicans, who warned of energized Democratic turnout.

In Cumming, voters munched on free pork barbecue and applauded as most of the GOP ticket emerged from a pair of crowded buses that rumbled into a large vacant field across the street from a gas station.

Voters waited patiently in line for selfies with Kemp and Gov. Nathan Deal, but one of the bigger attractions was Geoff Duncan’s son Ryder – who stars in a TV ad promoting his father’s bid for lieutenant governor.

Abrams’ view: ‘Not antigun,’ but against AR-15s: Abrams kicked off her day with an appearance on “The View,” where she earned applause for repeating her call to ban assault rifles such as the AR-15, which she called a “weapon of mass destruction.”

“Let’s be clear, I’m not anti-gun,” she said. “However, I know that responsible gun owners understand they have responsibility for the firearms. And making sure that only responsible people have those firearms.”

Abrams said there needs to be a “national conversation” about gun rights, and she maintained that new restrictions don’t infringe on Second Amendment protections.

It quickly became part of Kemp’s attack: He dinged her for appearing on national TV a week before the election.

Deal: New governor should not fear special session: The special legislative session set for the week after the election will not include any attempt to strip the executive powers of the new governor, the current governor said in an interview.

Deal called the special session last week to provide roughly $100 million in hurricane relief to hard-hit areas of southwest Georgia, while potentially approving a tax break on jet fuel and funding a new airport training facility.

The rare maneuver sparked whispers that lawmakers could be asked to clip the wings of a new governor should Abrams win. Many point to North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers passed measures to curtail Roy Cooper’s powers weeks after the Democrat narrowly won that state’s race for governor.

Deal said such a move is not on the agenda “as far as I’m concerned.” That means it won’t happen: State law lets governors strictly control the agenda that lawmakers consider.

“That is not what the special session is called for,” he said. “It’s for Hurricane Michael and for the impact on the southwest part of the state. We cannot pay for all the losses.”

Where the campaign trail leads: Here’s where the candidates will be Tuesday: Abrams

8:45 a.m. — Atlanta, Emerald City Bagels, 1257-A Glenwood Ave. S.E.

Kemp

7:30 a.m. — Columbus, Stars and Strikes, 7607 Veterans Parkway.

10 a.m. — Forsyth, Town Square, 1 Courthouse Square.

11:30 a.m. — Warner Robins, Monkey Joe’s parking lot, 4993 Russell Parkway.

1:30 p.m. — Tifton, American Textile Co., 500 Oakridge Church Road.

3 p.m. — Moultrie, Colquitt County Courthouse, 9 S. Main St.

5 p.m. — Valdosta, Lowndes County GOP Headquarters, 2201 Bemiss Road.