Brian Kemp campaign bus rolls into Albany

ALBANY — Secretary of State Brian Kemp brought his campaign for governor to Albany Wednesday, vowing to visit 37 cities in Georgia in just seven days.

The GOP primary runoff between Kemp and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has grown contentious after the release of two secretly recorded conversations between Cagle and former gubernatorial hopeful Clay Tippins put a dent in Cagle’s campaign. The lieutenant governor’s once large lead in the polls has shrunk to within the margin of error.

“It’s unfortunate that a guy who has been in office as long as I’ve been married — for 24 years — has now attacked everyone who has been in the Republican primary,” Kemp said. “He did it first, so we are obviously responding to the negative ads. They are all fake news; they are lies. He’s embellishing the facts, which is what happens when you are dealing with desperate career politicians.

“But we continue to talk about putting Georgians first, and as I’ve been saying for 15 months, this race is all about trust. Who do you trust the most to do the right thing when no ones watching, or when no one is listening?”

The GOP governor’s race took a turn last month when former GOP hopeful Tippins released recorded audio of a conversation he and Cagle had in regard to HB 217, which raised the cap on tax credits for donations to private schools from $65 million to $100 million.

According to The Gainesville Times, on the recording Cagle said while discussing the bill, “It ain’t about public policy. It’s about (expletive) politics. There’s a group that was getting ready to put $3 million behind Hunter Hill. Mr. Pro-Choice. I mean, Mr. Pro-Charters, vouchers.”

The vote on that bill apparently staved off an education policy super PAC, The Walton Foundation, that was preparing to put $3 million behind Hill, who later finished third in the May 22 primary.

On the second snippet of the tape released early this week, Cagle is heard saying the five-man race came down to “who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck and who could be the craziest.”

Kemp said in a statement to the AP on Monday that the newly released recording “exposes Cagle’s real opinion of Republican voters in Georgia.”

Cagle said the quote was taken out of context.

“It’s become very clear that he will say and do anything for political gain over policy or to get illegal campaign contributions,” Kemp said. “People are sick of the career politician and their ‘buy your way into office mentality.’ Negotiating a piece of legislation is a lot different than trying to pass or kill a bill that is completely against your principals when you are trying to tell voters you are a principled person; and it’s illegal. That’s not going on in the anterooms, and it’s unacceptable.

“But that’s his problem to deal with.”

Kemp was candid when asked if could win the runoff without carrying south Georgia.

“No, I mean look, I was the first one on Day 1 who talked about strengthening rural Georgia,” Kemp said. I’ve been to 159 counties, and I am the only person in the state who’s done that. I’ve seen the tough conditions that are out there in many of our rural towns and communities with our work force aging out and our young people moving away. We need a governor who is going to focus on those parts of the state.

“We stayed at a place last night that didn’t have Internet access. We need to change that. With just weeks until the July 24 Republican primary runoff, we are hitting the road to connect with conservatives in every part of our state. My campaign is built on a singular promise to put hard-working Georgians first — ahead of the special interests, status quo, politically correct, and those that are here illegally. I encourage supporters, local leaders and Georgia voters to join us along the way as we work toward victory at the ballot box.”