FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 Wednesday, April 15, 2026

CONTACT: press@keishaforgovernor.com

During Debate, Bottoms Focuses on Affordability, Expanding Access to Health Care, and Standing Up for Georgians

ATLANTA — At tonight’s gubernatorial debate at 11Alive studios in Atlanta, Democratic candidate for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms laid out her vision for Georgia’s future, including lowering costs, expanding access to healthcare, and standing up to Donald Trump’s chaos when it hurts Georgians.

Earlier this week, Keisha announced her CARE Plan for a Healthier Georgia to lower health care costs and make Georgia's health care system work better for patients, families, and providers. Keisha also recently announced her plan to guarantee pre-K access to every 4-year old in Georgia and require full-day kindergarten for Georgia students.

On Standing Up to President Trump:

“I've gone toe to toe with the Trump Administration, and I know that we need to focus on issues like affordability, expanding Medicaid in this state, and making access to education something that's available to everyone in this state,” said Bottoms. “It's not just about what you will do, it's about what you have done when given the opportunity. And when given the opportunity to lead, I led on behalf of not just the city of Atlanta, but people across the state, and I am ready to go and fight for all of our communities to make Georgia a better place for our children.”

On Lowering Costs for Georgia Families:

“Suspending the gas tax is one way that we can address the issue as it relates to gas costs in this state. Also joining other states who've already sued the Trump Administration on tariffs that are unfairly impacting small businesses in the state,” said Bottoms. “Also, the Port of Savannah is being directly impacted because of the radical tariffs that Trump has instituted. Also making sure that we are expanding Medicaid in the state — over a million and a half Georgians saw their health care premiums go up because of the refusal of the Trump Administration to extend the ACA subsidies.

Bottoms continued, “When we closed the multi-billion dollar transaction that's now known as Centennial Yards, we created an affordable housing trust fund. We can do that across the state to help offset housing costs”

On Expanding Access to Health Care Across the State:

“The state of health care in this state is shameful,” said Bottoms. “We are the home to the CDC. Yet we have nine rural hospitals that have already closed. We have 300,000 people who aren't insured in this state because of the refusal to expand Medicaid. We left $700 million on the table because of the refusal to expand Medicaid. Reopening hospitals in our rural communities has to be a priority. We also have to invest heavily in making sure that we have public health clinics, mobile health clinics, and that we are giving incentives to health care providers to go to rural communities and provide much needed health care.”

On Investing in Education and Georgia’s Workforce:

“What we need to focus on is creating workforce training development. I did it as Mayor of Atlanta, and I know it can be done statewide. We created the Center for Workforce Innovation at Atlanta Area Tech, where we train people for six-figure jobs, as plumbers, as airline mechanics, as coders, the list goes on. This can and should be done statewide, especially in conjunction with areas that are heavily populated by our veteran population,” said Bottoms. “This is something that is of interest to the entire state, because what we know is that when we have a trained workforce, it betters our state. It’s better for our economy. It's better for our communities.”

On Protecting Georgia Women’s Right to Make Their Own Health Care Decisions:

“The ‘heartbeat bill’ needs to be repealed in this state, and it really is a travesty, given that we have some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the state, especially as it relates to African-American women. We need to have this state restored to Roe standards where a woman could have the right to choose, and understanding that this is not just about abortion.” said Bottoms. “This is about women who may be experiencing a miscarriage. This is about women who are in need of health care, and health care providers are afraid to provide it for fear of prosecution. The ‘heartbeat bill’ is not in line with who we are as a state and the choices that women have had for over 50 years in this country.”

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