Published 4:37 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2026 ATLANTA — With voters upset about the cost of living, both candidates for governor are rolling out affordability plans to woo them. After Republican Rick Jackson pitched cuts to income and energy taxes last month, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms unveiled her proposal Wednesday to lower grocery bills by cutting the sales tax. The state already exempts groceries from its 4% sales tax. Her new plan would give cities and counties the option of waiving theirs, too. The former Atlanta mayor said that if voters make her the first Democratic governor of Georgia in more than two decades — and the first Black woman ever — she will ask lawmakers to let cities and counties opt out, too. Speaking at a campaign stop in a small grocery store in Lawrenceville, Bottoms framed rising costs as an existential crisis. Whether she goes to the hair or nail salon, the grocery store or church, Bottoms said, “people are talking about how expensive it is just to exist.” President Donald Trump has endorsed Jackson, and Jackson has said he would be Trump’s favorite governor. The Bottoms campaign hopes that alliance hurts Jackson more than it helps him. “Donald Trump ran on lowering grocery costs, specifically the cost of eggs, immediately when he came into office,” Bottoms said. “Well, we are still waiting on him to deliver on that.” Bottoms’ affordability plan offers local leaders two options: permanently eliminate their sales taxes on groceries and other…
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