SPRINGFIELD — Shortly after Gov. Brian Kemp stepped off his campaign bus at The Local on Laurel on Friday, Rep. Jon Burns helped him unload some “facts.”

“He is the reason our state is being so successful and has been and continues to be successful from a fiscal perspective,” Burns said while introducing the goveror at a breakfast/rally. “Y’all know that. He opened up the state when everyone else was closed down (because of COVID-19) and protected us, and protected our businesses so we could be successful and maintain our quality of life.”

Kemp, a Republican, received enthusiastic applause from more than 100 people when he joined Burns at the podium. The crowd included a few residents of surrounding counties.

After a some pleasantries, the governor got to the point of his campaign stop.

“We are getting up every single day because we are literally in a fight for the soul of our state,” he said. “We get up everyday to fight what we are dealing with and what our state is dealing with and what is going on in Washington, D.C., that a lot of times we can’t control to make sure that (Democrat) Stacey Abrams is never your governor or your next president.”

Kemp reminded the audience that Abrams lambasted him for allowing businesses and schools to resume operations shortly after the March 2020 quarantine started.

“It matters now more than ever who your governor is,” he said. “You literally have had one person in states around the country — the governor — who allowed people to gamble at casinos in their state yet they couldn’t go worship. Well, we never closed churches in Georgia and as long as I’m governor we never will.” 

Kemp mocked Abrams’ recent TV commercials that tout her affinity for small businesses.

“She was one of the first people who criticized me for reopening our economy and allowing you to fight another day, allowing you to be resilient,” he said.

Kemp said he knows what it’s like to manage a small business during difficult times.

“You’ve only really got two choices when that happens,” he said. “You can throw the keys back to the bank and give up or you can get up Saturday morning and try to turn another dollar, try to sell something, try to fight off to another day, another week, the week after that, a month after that, a month after that. We did that for month after month, especially during the Great Recession (of 2008).

“I’ve had to do that more than once and (the first lady) has, too, and that’s not a good feeling. I felt like that’s how a lot of hardworking Georgians were feeling and they were not going to continue to sit in their basement and lose everything that they’ve got.

“We saw that happen in other states around the country. Generational businesses, hardworking Georgians that had been trained and survived, and prospered in the industry were just gone and not coming back.”

Kemp didn’t waver despite getting national criticism for allowing businesses to reopen.

“Because of that, our economy has been incredibly resilient and we are seeing record economic growth,” he said.

Kemp, who said the state unemployment rate is a record low 3.6 percent, recently signed a $1.1 billion tax refund plan because of a historic state budget surplus. He credited Georgia’s string of Republican governors and legislative leaders for it. The GOP has controlled state government since 2002.

“Our budget is incredible — what we have been able to do from a fiscally conservative standpoint and standing up for Georgia values over the last two or three (election) cycles is incredible, and this year really took the cake, in my opinion,” the governor said. “You just look at what this state has done for over 19 years now under that leadership."

The governor noted that the refund — $250 for individuals or $500 for families — will come in handy in the face of national economic problems.

“... In these times of (40-year high) Biden inflation (in the U.S.), it’s better for that money to be in your pocket to help offset the disastrous leaders and policies that we have in the country at the gas pump, at the grocery store and in the supply chain right now,” Kemp said. 

Kemp explained what he thinks is a key reason for Georgia’s economic success, which allowed for the recent suspension of the state gas tax. He also intends to lower the state income tax rate to less than five percent.

“It’s not just because we have good leadership (at the state level) and good leadership in the General Assembly,” he said. “We have great partners at the local level.”  

The governor gave a nod to the Effingham County Board of Commissioners, Effingham County School District Superintendent Dr. Yancy Ford and Effingham County Industrial Development Authority CEO Brandt Herndon.

“(Herndon) is a partner with us and we are constantly talking and working to bring good jobs and good opportunities to this part of the state,” Kemp said. 

The governor said $11 billion was invested in 379 Georgia industrial projects during the last fiscal year.

“That was a 46 percent increase during the middle of a pandemic,” Kemp said. “Seventy-four percent of the projects that we did were outside the 10 metro Atlanta counties.”

With a full quarter to go, the state has already broken last’s record for industrial development with $12.9 billion invested, the goveror said.

Kemp spent a moment to defend the Election Integrity Act of 2021, a law designed to increase election security. It strengthened identification requirements for absentee ballots while expanding early in-person voting.

“When Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and a bunch of woke corporate CEOs who didn’t even live in Georgia started pressuring our state and our companies, we never wavered,” Kemp said. “We stood up. I stood up and told the truth about the bill.

“It makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat. We added opportunities for people to vote on the weekends during the early voting period. We made the absentee ballot process by mail better and more efficient for the counties by simply tying the voter ID to it, which we’ve used for in-person voting. Georgians have been doing that since the mid 2000s.”

The act also requires continuous counting of ballots and secure drop boxes.  

Kemp blamed Abrams for Major League Baseball’s decision to yank the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta and move it to Denver after the law was passed.

“... we got poetic justice when the Braves won the World Series,” Kemp said, drawing cheers.

In closing, the governor reminded the audience that he must get past the May 24 Republican primary before he can take on Abrams. Former Sen. David Perdue is also seeking his party’s nomination.

“I realize that we have to get our folks out to vote,” he said, adding that he isn’t taking a win for granted. “I realize that we have the momentum and are doing well but nothing matters until that day. That is the ultimate poll.”

After the governor and first lady were presented gift baskets filled with local products, Burns reclaimed the microphone and said, “I don’t know about y’all but, in my life, I have to deal with facts and I heard the facts this morning about our state, where we’ve been, where we are and where we are going ...”