Latest / Balance of Power / BONUS: Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Governors Race, Data Center Pause

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BONUS: Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Governors Race, Data Center Pause · Balance of Power

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  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news.
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  Speaker 2: In Georgia, the governor's race is neck and neck, with
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  Speaker 2: the latest polling finding Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former
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  Speaker 2: mayor of Atlanta, and Republican Rick Jackson in a statistical tie. Jackson,
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  Speaker 2: a billionaire health care executive, has already poured more than
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  Speaker 2: $ 100 million into the race, but the Democratic Governors Association
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  Speaker 2: announced today it would spend an additional $ 5 million on
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  Speaker 2: behalf of Bottoms. And earlier, we spoke with her about
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  Speaker 2: a range of issues, but began with that funding disadvantage
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  Speaker 2: and asked whether the race would still be tied if
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  Speaker 2: Democrats had invested more sooner.
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  Speaker 1: We are appreciative whenever that money comes. So we've not
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  Speaker 1: missed an opportunity to do anything that we wanted and
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  Speaker 1: needed to do over the course of this campaign. And
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  Speaker 1: not only has he spent $ 100 million against me, the
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  Speaker 1: largest amount ever spent against one candidate, but he also
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  Speaker 1: spent $ 100 million in the primary in May. So he's
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  Speaker 1: over $ 200 million in But it's a reminder that he
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  Speaker 1: has the money, but the people still have the power
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  Speaker 1: and that power is in our ability to show up
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  Speaker 1: and vote, which people in Georgia are doing in record numbers.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm grateful for the support of DGA, grateful that
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  Speaker 1: more is coming and it's going to help us finish strong.
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  Speaker 3: Madam Mayor, it's great to have you in our Atlanta
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  Speaker 3: bureau today. We want to talk issues that, of course,
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  Speaker 3: if you believe the polls and what voters are telling
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  Speaker 3: us anecdotally, there's no greater issue than affordability. And by that,
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  Speaker 3: we mean prices and inflation. You're out with a grocery
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  Speaker 3: tax relief plan to give local governments the ability to
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  Speaker 3: suspend or end the grocery tax as they are collected
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  Speaker 3: by local governments. Mayor, what would this cost your state
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  Speaker 3: and how much would it save consumers?
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  Speaker 1: So right now, the grocery tax is collected by local governments.
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  Speaker 1: So that's why we want it to be responsible in
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  Speaker 1: allowing local governments to make the ultimate decision as to
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  Speaker 1: whether or not their budgets can absorb it. So they
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  Speaker 1: can temporarily suspend it, as we sometimes see with a
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  Speaker 1: shopping sales tax in our state, or they can end it.
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  Speaker 1: completely if their budgets can accommodate it. I do have
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  Speaker 1: a proposal to put money in our state budget as
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  Speaker 1: a backstop, a one-time backstop for our local governments. But
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  Speaker 1: this has been about listening to the people around this
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  Speaker 1: state and trying to come up with concrete solutions.
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  Speaker 4: That can make a difference.
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  Speaker 1: I also want to make sure that we eliminate taxes
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  Speaker 1: permanently on diapers, feminine hygiene products, and.
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  Speaker 4: On baby formula.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Joe and I made our own visit to your
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  Speaker 2: state for the primary earlier this year, back in May.
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  Speaker 4: And Madam Mayor, we heard.
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  Speaker 2: A lot about data centers in Georgia specifically. And we
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  Speaker 2: actually had a viewer and listener writing into us from Atlanta,
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  Speaker 2: Georgia today with a question for you on that. He
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  Speaker 2: says he's generally a supporter of yours, but your statewide
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  Speaker 2: data center pause idea gives him pause. He says that
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  Speaker 2: Georgia required data centers to cover their full grid and
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  Speaker 2: water costs. Why shouldn't a rural county that wants a
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  Speaker 2: data center be able to.
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  Speaker 4: Say yes to that investment?
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  Speaker 2: And what specific conditions would end the pause for you
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  Speaker 2: as governor?
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  Speaker 1: Well, we want to make sure that this is a
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  Speaker 1: pause to allow us a pause, a new data center
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  Speaker 1: construction to allow us the opportunity to figure out the
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  Speaker 1: responsible path forward as a state. I haven't set a
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  Speaker 1: time frame around that. That pause could be one month.
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  Speaker 1: It could be six months or longer. But what I've
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  Speaker 1: not seen come forward from the state is concrete information.
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  Speaker 1: around what's been the strain on our electric grid, how
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  Speaker 1: much are consumers actually carrying the cost for these data centers,
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  Speaker 1: what's the long-term health impact, the long-term impact on our
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  Speaker 1: water supply. So we want to just make sure that
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  Speaker 1: we are moving forward responsibly. We'll see what the recommendations
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  Speaker 1: may be.
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  Speaker 4: It may be that we leave it.
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  Speaker 1: Completely up to counties, or it may be that we
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  Speaker 1: take a different approach in this state. Right now, we
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  Speaker 1: are number one In the country for data centers, we
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  Speaker 1: have surpassed Northern Virginia. And by and large, the sentiment
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  Speaker 1: has been that the unknown is creating a lot of
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  Speaker 1: anxiety for people, especially our rate payers across Georgia.
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  Speaker 3: Well, if you have that many data centers already, they're
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  Speaker 3: about as popular as toxic nuclear waste right now. Why
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  Speaker 3: not just get out of the data center game altogether?
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  Speaker 1: Well, my opponent actually owns four companies that invest and
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  Speaker 1: or build data centers. Right now, there's a community in Bowie, Texas,
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  Speaker 1: who's at odds with him over a data center that's
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  Speaker 1: been shrouded in secrecy that he's trying to push down
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  Speaker 1: the throat to the people in the community. And again,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not the technology expert. I'll be the first to
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  Speaker 1: say that. So I want to make sure that I
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  Speaker 1: have the right people around the table who are giving
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  Speaker 1: us all the information we need to help us determine,
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  Speaker 1: do we have enough data centers?
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  Speaker 4: In Georgia, or do we need more?
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  Speaker 1: And if so, what's the responsible way that we move
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  Speaker 1: forward with that industry?
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  Speaker 2: Well, your opponent doesn't just have ties to that industry. He,
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  Speaker 2: of course, made a fortune as a health care executive.
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  Speaker 2: Why should a Georgian believe that you will do more
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  Speaker 2: to improve Medicare and Medicaid than a former health care
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  Speaker 2: executive could do?
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  Speaker 1: I've said from day one that we need to expand
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  Speaker 1: Medicaid in Georgia. We've left $ 700 million on the table
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  Speaker 1: already because we've not expanded Medicaid.
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  Speaker 4: I was with.
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  Speaker 1: Senator Ossoff earlier today, and he said that he and
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  Speaker 1: Senator Warnock put $ 2 billion into the federal budget to
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  Speaker 1: allow Georgia to expand Medicaid to help sweeten the pot,
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  Speaker 1: and Georgia still didn't do it. 300,000 people don't have
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  Speaker 1: health insurance coverage because we've not expanded it. Nine rural
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  Speaker 1: hospitals have closed. Even more are expected to close if
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  Speaker 1: we don't expand Medicaid.
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  Speaker 4: So it's necessary.
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  Speaker 1: I talked with the woman in Jessup, Georgia, who said
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  Speaker 1: her sister-in-law drove an hour and 15 minutes in labor
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  Speaker 1: to reach the closest delivery unit. So it's not just
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  Speaker 1: the hospitals that have closed. We've had chemotherapy units closed,
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  Speaker 1: ICU units closed.
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  Speaker 4: It has been catastrophic.
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  Speaker 1: My opponent has a healthcare system, a healthcare company that's
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  Speaker 1: made money because we have a broken healthcare.
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  Speaker 4: System in this state.
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  Speaker 1: He hires doctors and nurses back into hospitals that are
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  Speaker 1: raising personnel costs. And he's even received a $ 700 million
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  Speaker 1: contract from the state of Georgia that's been extended each
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  Speaker 1: year since the pandemic.
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  Speaker 4: He can't be trusted on this issue.
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  Speaker 3: You have a long track record, Mayor Bottoms, of opposing
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  Speaker 3: immigration enforcement, going back to the president's first term when
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  Speaker 3: you were.
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  Speaker 4: Mayor of Atlanta.
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  Speaker 3: Will you seek to ban ICE enforcement from the state?
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  Speaker 3: Or as governor, would you work with federal authorities when
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  Speaker 3: it comes to enforcement, particularly for violent criminals?
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  Speaker 1: We want responsible, lawful immigration enforcement. When I ended our
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  Speaker 1: relationship with ICE on behalf of the city of Atlanta,
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  Speaker 1: it was during the family separation policy. And when we
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  Speaker 1: reached out to the Trump administration to find out if
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  Speaker 1: we would be complicit in that policy, in families that
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  Speaker 1: were being separated, we were holding— ICE detainees at our
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  Speaker 1: city jail. It was a longstanding contract, a multi-year, multi-million
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  Speaker 1: dollar contract. I ended that agreement because they couldn't give
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  Speaker 1: us any assurances as to what our role would be.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not afraid to step forward and take action that's
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  Speaker 1: never been taken before. When we took that step, States
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  Speaker 1: and cities and counties across America followed suit. So we
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  Speaker 1: we don't have a problem with lawful immigration tactics that
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  Speaker 1: are respectful, that are responsible, that aren't wreaking havoc in
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  Speaker 1: our communities. But that's not what we're seeing from Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump's eyes. We are seeing people being run over in
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  Speaker 1: the street. We've seen people get killed by ICE. And
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  Speaker 1: it is also disruptive for law enforcement across Georgia. I've
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  Speaker 1: talked with several members of law enforcement who've talked about
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  Speaker 1: the added burden that they have having to act as
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  Speaker 1: ICE agents because of state law. So we want to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that whatever it is that we're doing, we
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  Speaker 1: are being respectful of. Nobody wants hardened criminals on our streets,
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  Speaker 1: but we also know that we have citizens who are
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  Speaker 1: hardened criminals on our streets. This is about being respectful
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  Speaker 1: and lawful.
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  Speaker 2: Finally, Mayor Bottoms, we know you have to leave us,
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  Speaker 2: but obviously Georgia has been at the epicenter of disputed
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  Speaker 2: election results in cycles past. Do you have any reason
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  Speaker 2: to believe that there will be irregularity with the results
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  Speaker 2: in this 2026 cycle? And are you prepared to accept them,
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  Speaker 2: whatever the outcome?
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  Speaker 1: I'm deeply concerned in what we've seen from the Trump administration,
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  Speaker 1: from the raid on Fulton County to the 260 FBI
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  Speaker 1: agents that he has already dispatched into our state. And
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  Speaker 1: now he is sending the DOJ to monitor our elections.
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  Speaker 1: Jason Carter, who leads the Carter Center, shared that the
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  Speaker 1: Carter Center monitors elections around the globe, will monitor the
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  Speaker 1: election in Georgia.
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  Speaker 4: That's how concerned we are.
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  Speaker 1: As I heard someone say this week, we want to
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  Speaker 1: make sure our results are too big to rig. We
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  Speaker 1: want to make sure that in the same way we
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  Speaker 1: were able to outvote Republicans in May during the primary
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  Speaker 1: by 150,000 votes, that we have a pretty wide margin.
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  Speaker 1: And we are monitoring daily the vote tallies, keeping track
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  Speaker 1: of that so that we will have our own information.
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  Speaker 4: Should a disruption happen.
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  Speaker 1: But also just we are prepared to challenge where necessary.
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  Speaker 4: With the courts.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, I can't say what will happen at
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  Speaker 1: the end of this election, but it is my.
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  Speaker 4: Hope that Donald Trump will not have his.
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  Speaker 1: Way in Georgia and that we will have a free
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  Speaker 1: and fair election.
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  Speaker 3: Interesting final answer. That was Georgia's Democratic nominee for Governor
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  Speaker 3: Keisha Lance Bonham speaking with us today on Bloomberg. We
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  Speaker 3: have invited her Republican opponent, Rick Jackson, who you heard
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  Speaker 3: her refer to, to join us as well.