North Gwinnett News

As the final days of the election season play out, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams tirelessly pointed fingers at one another during their final debate before voters go to the polls.

According to a recent report by FOX 5 Atlanta, among the issues debated by the two candidates were the economy, abortion and the state’s rising violent crime rate, which Abrams partly blamed on Kemp’s controversial law that allows gun owners to openly carry their guns in public without a permit.

"It looks like this debate is going to be a lot like the last one," Kemp said during the debate. "Mrs. Abrams is going to attack my record because she doesn’t want to talk about her own record."

According to the report, Abrams charged that under Kemp’s open carry laws, the state’s economy missed out on several major events that had been planned for the state, while the Governor countered he believes his challengers’ progressive policies would only make matters worse as it relates to crime. 

"Under his four years, violent crime has gone up," Abrams said. "Gun violence has gone up. Guns are the number one killer of our children. We have the ninth-highest gun violence rate in the nation."

With election day a little more than a week away and more than 1.6 million voters in the state having already cast their ballots, a recent FOX5/Insider Advantage poll showed Kemp with a nine-point lead over his challenger, who he also defeated four years ago.