ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Four Republican candidates for Georgia governor outlined their plans to reduce costs for families and improve education at a weekend event in Unadilla, one month before the state’s primary election.

The Georgia primary is set for May 19, with early voting beginning April 27. The voter registration deadline is Monday, April 20.

Eight Republicans have qualified for the 2026 Georgia primary, including Attorney General Chris Carr, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Republicans have won every gubernatorial election in Georgia since 2002.

Candidates propose tax elimination, cost reduction

At the Unadilla event, candidates Burt Jones, Rick Jackson, Ken Yasger and Clark Dean discussed strategies to help Georgia families save money.

“I would help create more competition in the supply chain in order to bring down the cost of food and anything else,” Jackson said.

Dean proposed bringing food processing to rural areas.

“So what we can do is actually bring targeted food processing into rural areas, creating real jobs in rural areas, actually monetizing that forty percent of the farmers produce that goes wasted, increasing our food supply and reducing costs to Georgians,” Dean said.

Jones said he would work toward eliminating state income tax and homeowners property taxes.

“We’re going to move towards eliminating state income tax. We’ve been lowering it the last four years since I’ve been lieutenant governor. We’ve capped property taxes. We’re going to move towards eliminating homeowners property taxes,” Jones said.

Yasger also pledged to eliminate the state income tax.

“I will absolutely make sure the state income tax is eliminated. Georgians shouldn’t be taxed on what they make, just on what they spend. It’s unconstitutional. It needs to go away,” Yasger said.

Education priorities vary among candidates

The candidates outlined different approaches to improving Georgia schools.

Jones highlighted recent legislation on school choice and college and career academies.

“As far as the education front, we pass school choice for the first time ever, and we have invested in college and career academies, which is teaching school skill sets for young people that aren’t going to college, which is a great opportunity because there’s a lot of opportunities out there that don’t require a four year degree. So those are the things. And we got to make higher education more affordable,” Jones said.

Dean said the state needs to support teachers and schools.

Yasger proposed cutting administrative salaries to increase teacher pay.

“So to make sure they get a better education, I just want to pay the teachers more. I want to cut administrative salaries in the state of Georgia and cap it and give the teachers more pay, because they’re the ones that are the soldiers in the classroom,” Yasger said.

Jackson said literacy legislation needs follow-through.

“Well, first of all, I think it needs to be a priority of the governor to lead. We’ve done a good job this year of passing legislation to help on literacy, but we need somebody to follow up with that to make sure it’s implemented. And that’s going to be a number one priority,” Jackson said.

Candidates split on Trump endorsement importance

The candidates expressed varying views on the importance of President Trump’s support.

“Look, I’m not making my campaign about any national political figures or personalities,” Dean said.

“Trump support is very, very important and he does support me one hundred percent,” Jones said.

“But all I have to say is, I don’t care if it’s a Republican or a Democrat in the white House, they don’t wake up every day and say, how can I make Georgians lives better. That’s my job,” Yasger said.

“First of all, I’m going to be President Trump’s favorite governor. And no one is like Trump, like I am in this race, period,” Jackson said.

Seven Democrats have also qualified for the governor’s race. The only candidate currently serving in office is Derrick Jackson, who represents Georgia’s 68th House District.

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