Jill Nolin | The Valdosta Daily TimesGov. Nathan Deal campaigns with Republican Brian Kemp in the hotly contested Atlanta suburbs. 

ATLANTA – Gov. Nathan Deal has hit the campaign trail with Republican Brian Kemp with a call for continued “cohesiveness” under the Gold Dome.

Deal, who earlier endorsed Kemp’s opponent in the primary – Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle – campaigned with Kemp Tuesday in the hotly contested Atlanta suburbs. They were joined by Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump.

The term-limited Republican governor touted his administration’s achievements – criminal justice initiatives, a fully funded K-12 formula, an income tax cut for Georgians – and presented Kemp as the key to preserving and expanding those efforts.

Kemp, who is secretary of state, is locked in a close race with Democrat Stacey Abrams, a former state House minority leader.

The popular outgoing governor has worked with a Republican-controlled legislature that is expected to stay in Republican hands.

“It takes everybody working together,” Deal said to a packed crowd at Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q in Marietta. “Now if we do not have that cohesiveness, I can assure you that it will be difficult to repeat the kind of successful programs that we put in place.”

Abrams frequently commends Deal for his economic policies while on the campaign trail, but she is especially complimentary of the governor’s criminal justice measures. She has vowed to build on that work.

Deal, though, framed the race as a choice between moving forward – or not.

“You can do great things but if you don’t continue them, you’ll soon forget what you did that was so good in the first place. That’s why my interest is let’s not go back. Let’s go forward,” Deal said.

“I want to see the next governor take what we’ve done, build on it, refine it and improve it.”

Specifically, Deal said Abrams would attempt to repeal an income tax break that was passed this year. Abrams was critical of the decision to reduce the tax, saying lawmakers acted prematurely and without understanding the full impact of the federal tax reform. But in a recent interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she said she would let the cut stand.

 

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s newspapers and websites.