Georgia's gubernatorial candidates make last-minute pitches

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(The Center Square) – Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms was supported Wednesday by former President Barack Obama four days after Republican Rick Jackson welcomed President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.

The high-profile visits come as polls on the polling aggregator site 270towin.com show a tight race. Jackson leads slightly in most polls but is still within the margin of error. 

In Clayton County, Obama criticized Jackson's ties to Trump using Jackson's statement that he wants to be Trump's "favorite governor."

"He says he cannot think of a single White House policy that he disagrees with," Obama said. "He doesn't want to do something different than that. Not any of the policies that have made it harder for you to get by. That's crazy. Georgia doesn't need that kind of crazy."

Jackson appeared with Trump in Perry over the weekend after an Oct. 16 stop in Dalton. Jackson has focused his campaign on Bottoms' four-year term as Atlanta mayor from 2018 to 2022, saying, "Bad mayors don't make good governors."

Trump called Bottoms "terrible."

"She will ruin your state just like she ruined that city," Trump said. 

Obama and Trump also spoke about Georgia's U.S. Senate candidates. Polls on 270towin.com have consistently shown Democrat incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff ahead of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins. 

“If you want to talk about crazy, let’s take a look at what Mike Collins has been up to," Obama said. "Not only did this guy vote with Donald Trump 100% of the time on Iran, on tariffs, on everything else, he also happens to be under federal investigation by the House Ethics Committee."

A report from the Office of Congressional Conduct released in January said, "… there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Collins used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes." 

Collins has acknowledged the ethics investigation and has referred to it as a "nothing burger" and a "hit job." In an October debate with Ossoff, Collins encouraged the committee to release the files. 

Trump called Ossoff a "far left extremist" and told the crowd gathered in Perry it was time to "show Jon Ossoff the door."

More than 2.3 million Georgia voters have already made up their minds and voted absentee or in-person at early voting locations as of Thursday morning, according to the secretary of state's office. The numbers represent a 30.7% turnout of the state's 7.5 million registered voters.

Early voting ends Friday. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.