周二晚间，民主党人凯莎·兰斯·博塔姆斯与共和党人里克·杰克逊在佐治亚州州长选举中唯一一场预定举行的辩论中展开交锋。双方就经济问题、数据中心建设以及唐纳德·特朗普总统的相关政策互相抨击。距离选举日还有四周时间，且下周即将开始提前投票，多项民调显示：曾任亚特兰大市市长及拜登政府官员的博塔姆斯与身为亿万富翁医疗行业高管的杰克逊正处于势均力敌的胶着状态。
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson clashed Tuesday night during their only scheduled debate of this fall’s race for governor in Georgia, taking aim at one another on economic issues, data centers and President Donald Trump. Public polls show Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden administration official, and Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive, locked in a close race four weeks out from Election Day, and with early voting kicking off next week.
这场时长为一小时的市政厅式辩论整体氛围较为平和，期间选民们提出了现场提问及预先录制的提问。尽管杰克逊多次指责博塔姆斯担任市长期间的政绩不佳，而博塔姆斯则批评对手对特朗普一味吹捧。
The hourlong, town-hall style debate was largely civil, featuring live and taped questions from voters. Though Jackson frequently ripped his opponent over her record as mayor, while Bottoms attacked her rival’s praise of Trump.
“我的对手曾声称自己想成为特朗普最青睐的州长，甚至想成为带有南方口音的‘特朗普’。他还表示自己没有任何政策立场与特朗普相悖，”博塔姆斯在回应有关特朗普政府削减联邦拨款的提问时说道，“必要时我会坚决抵制唐纳德·特朗普。我参选可不是为了成为他的‘宠儿’。”对此，杰克逊回应称：“我不欠任何人什么，也没人能对我指手画脚。”
“My opponent has said he wants to be Trump’s favorite governor. He wants to be Trump with a southern tone. He said there’s not a single policy that he disagrees with Trump on,” Bottoms said at one point, responding to a question about the Trump administration’s cuts to federal funding. “I will stand up to Donald Trump when necessary. I’m not running to be his favorite governor,” Bottoms continued. Jackson responded to that attack by saying, “I don’t owe anybody anything” and that “nobody’s ever told me what to do.”
随后他多次提及深受民众爱戴且任期即将届满的佐治亚州州长布赖恩·凯普——这也是他整场辩论中多次引用的例子。“我会像布赖恩·凯普那样敢于对抗任何人。他能与两党合作、与历任总统共事，在意见相左时也会坚持立场，”杰克逊说道。
He then invoked the Brian Kemp, Georgia’s popular, term-limited governor — the first of multiple times he did so. “I will stand up to anybody, just like Brian Kemp has done. He works with both parties, both presidents, and he stands up when he disagrees,” Jackson said.
此前在共和党州长初选中，特朗普曾公开支持博塔姆斯的对手——副州长伯特·琼斯。不过杰克逊仍试图争取“MAGA阵营”的支持，并频繁将自己与特朗普相类比。自今年6月获得提名后，他逐渐收敛了这种做法，转而试图与同样曾支持琼斯的凯普建立联系。
Trump endorsed Jackson’s rival, Lt. Gov Burt Jones, during the Republican gubernatorial primary. But Jackson still attempted to claim the MAGA mantle and leaned heavily into comparing himself to the president. Since winning the nomination in June, he’s backed off that approach and sought to link himself more to Kemp, who had also backed Jones.
杰克逊则多次抨击博茨斯在担任市长期间的表现，指责她应对亚特兰大地区的高通胀负责——据他称，该地区的通胀率甚至超过了全国平均水平；他还指出新冠疫情流行期间该市犯罪率有所上升。“这种治理方式绝不能在乔治亚州出现。不能让民众连安心上班都做不到，”杰克逊说道，“糟糕的市长成不了优秀的州长。”虽然两位候选人也被问及住房与教育问题，但整场活动主要围绕经济议题与生活成本问题展开，双方均被反复询问将如何降低物价。
Jackson, for his part, took several shots at Bottoms over her tenure as mayor, accusing her of being responsible for regional inflation in the Atlanta area he claimed exceeded national inflation rates and pointing to higher crime rates in the city during the Covid-19 pandemic. “This is the kind of policy that we cannot have in running Georgia. Not having people feeling safe to go to work,” Jackson said. “Bad mayors don’t make good governors.”While the candidates were asked about housing and education, the event predominantly focused on economic issues and affordability, with both candidates repeatedly pressed on how they’d bring down costs.
两人都着重谈到了减税措施。博茨斯强调，她提议削减或暂停对汽车保险、食品杂货、卫生用品及纸尿裤等多项商品的州税或地方税。杰克逊则重申了自己的承诺：降低州所得税、房产税以及部分公用事业税。数据中心以及备受争议的弗洛克监控摄像头也成了讨论焦点。关于数据中心，博茨斯重申希望暂停新项目的建设。
Both focused heavily on tax relief. Bottoms emphasized her proposals to cut or suspend state or local taxes on a raft of items like auto insurance, groceries, hygiene products and diapers. Jackson, in turn, reiterated his promise to cut state income taxes, property taxes and taxes on certain utilities. Data centers and the controversial surveillance traffic cameras known as Flock cameras also took center stage. On data centers, Bottoms repeated her desire to implement a pause on new construction.
杰克逊则表示，若自己当选州长，在未获得当地社区同意、未制定环保标准且未确保当地居民电费水平有所下降的前提下，他不会批准任何新建设计划。不过两人在此问题上也发生了争执：博茨斯指责杰克逊曾投资数据中心项目，杰克逊则指责博茨斯在任市长期间批准了相关建设。博茨斯还表示自己并不反对暂停安装新的弗洛克摄像头，而杰克逊则持反对态度。
Jackson said he wouldn’t approve new construction as governor without first getting local community approval, establishing environmental standards and receiving a commitment that the power bill of local communities would be reduced. But the two sparred on the issue, as well, with Bottoms accusing Jackson of investing in data centers and Jackson accusing her of having approved the construction of them as mayor. Bottoms also said she wasn’t opposed to a moratorium on the installation of new Flock cameras, while Jackson said he was.
持续六年、始终牵动乔治亚州政坛的选举安全问题也在此次讨论中被提及。博茨斯称自己“对唐纳德·特朗普有关选举的言论深感担忧”。至于杰克逊，当被问及他是否认为美国……司法部应当“监督并介入”本州的选举工作——这一提议再次被提交给现任州长审议。“我认为这并无必要，除非坎普州长认为有必要，”杰克逊说道。
The issue of election security — which has hung over Georgia politics for six years — also came up. Bottoms said she was “deeply concerned about Donald Trump’s rhetoric around our elections.”Jackson, however, when asked whether he thought the U.S. Justice Department should be “overseeing and getting involved” with the state’s elections, deferred to the sitting governor again. “I don’t think that’s necessary unless Gov. Kemp thinks it’s necessary,” Jackson said.
杰克逊投入了数千万美元自掏腰包投放广告，截至上周，其宣传开支已是博特姆斯宣传预算的7倍之多。这种悬殊差距令众多民主党人忧心不已，他们原本视今年为16年来首次将州长职位从共和党手中夺回的绝佳良机。对博特姆斯有利的还有佐治亚州乃至全美的整体政治环境：特朗普的支持率持续低迷，选民也对其政府的经济治理表现颇有微词。
Jackson has flooded the airwaves with ads, using tens of millions of dollars of his own money to outspend Bottoms 7-to-1 as of last week. That disparity has worried many Democrats, who’ve seen this year as a prime opportunity to flip the governorship blue for the first time in 16 years. Aiding Bottoms is the broader political environment in Georgia and nationally: Trump is facing negative approval ratings and voter concerns with his administration’s handling of the economy.