Charlie Bailey, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, called his opponent Burt Jones “un-American and unpatriotic” during a visit to Athens last week for participating in President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
Jones, a five-term state senator from the Middle Georgia town of Jackson, was one of the fake electors Trump supporters planned to substitute for Biden’s winning slate from Georgia. He is currently under investigation for his role in what Bailey termed an “attempted coup.”
Bailey is a former defense attorney and prosecutor who once worked for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, as well as former Gov. Roy Barnes. Willis held a fundraiser for Bailey earlier this year, prompting a judge to remove her from the portion of the case involving Jones.
“I prosecuted felonies. He commits felonies,” Bailey told a small group of supporters Oct. 14 at the Chase Park Warehouses’ Tree Room during a fundraiser organized by Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Russell Edwards.
As recounted by Bailey, Jones—the heir to an oil fortune—flew in his father’s private jet to Washington, D.C. the day before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to urge Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the election results. Jones has said he left the letter in an Uber and never delivered it.
Bailey also discussed his support for bolstering the HOPE Scholarship with legal sports betting, free technical college, raising teacher pay, legalizing marijuana and, in particular, abortion rights. “My Republican opponent thinks he’s in a better position to make those health-care decisions than the women of Georgia,” Bailey said. “Well, I disagree.”
A recent Georgia News Collaborative poll found Bailey in a stronger position than any Democrat running for statewide office except Sen. Raphael Warnock, trailing Jones 43%–38%, plus or minus 3%.
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