What Donald Trump’s endorsement of Burt Jones means for governor’s race
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- Jon Ossoff wants Atlanta’s business community to speak out.
- Clarence Blalock is the first Democrat in the labor commissioner’s race.
- Democrats criticize Brian Kemp for refusing summer lunch program.
MAGA nod
President Donald Trump’s early endorsement of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones could either be a game changer for his campaign for governor or a footnote when the votes are finally counted.
The support was no surprise. Jones first hitched his wagon to Trump a decade ago. His top rival for Trump’s nod — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — opted not to run. And Jones has worked furiously to line up the endorsement for months.
Now he can spend the next year reminding GOP voters that Trump declared him a “WARRIOR” with the “Courage and Wisdom to deliver strong results.”
That’s no small thing in a state that Trump captured in 2024 — and where Republicans still broadly approve of the president and his agenda.
Backed by more than $14 million in his campaign account, including a $10 million loan from himself, Jones has the resources to make sure Trump-aligned voters don’t forget who the president is backing.
But the nod cuts both ways. His main Republican opponent, Attorney General Chris Carr, has long planned for this scenario. He beat a Trump-backed challenger in 2022 by running on his record. Now, he could try to frame Trump’s snub as proof of his independence to woo more swing voters.
Jones also becomes an even bigger target for Democrats eager to paint all Republicans in the race as Trump lackeys. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wasted no time.
“It’s clear that Burt Jones is only interested in one thing: serving as a yes-man to Donald Trump,” she said. “I’ll put Georgians first, and I will never be afraid to stand up for our state. Georgians deserve a governor who will always put our state, not Donald Trump first.”
Things to know
Good morning! We’ll get a look at the future of the Atlanta Beltline today when leaders reveal recommendations from a two-year federally funded study about adding light rail stations along the popular system of trails and parks.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff said an investigation from his office has revealed 14 reports of alleged mistreatment of pregnant women inside immigration detention facilities, the AJC’s Lautaro Grinspan reports.
- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta days after a gunman opened fire on the public health agency, the AJC’s Taylor Croft reports.
- President Donald Trump says he’s taking over Washington’s police department and calling in the National Guard. It would be difficult for Trump to repeat that tactic in other cities, such as Atlanta, the AJC’s Jozsef Papp reports.
Speak up
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is more than happy to hear people complain about President Donald Trump’s policies. But as he prepares for one of the most competitive Senate races in America next year, he’d like to start hearing those complaints publicly, starting with Atlanta’s business community.
Ossoff challenged members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Monday to “use your voices” against the Trump administration — and not just within the relative safety of his U.S. Senate office.
“I have had leaders in every sector of the economy … come into my office for the last five or six months and tell me that they’re terrified, but they’re not going to say anything because they don’t want a target on their back,” Ossoff said. “There is not safety in silence. … You’ve got to use those rights that we have in our Constitution in order to have an impact.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Georgia’s other Democratic U.S. senator, Raphael Warnock, issued the same challenge when he spoke to the Rotary Club back in May.
“I know that when you’re running a business you want to stay as far from politics as you can,” Warnock told them. “But there comes a moment when … we have to raise our voices.”
The speeches highlight the tough spot Georgia’s business leaders face when balancing the preferences of Georgia’s Democratic U.S. senators with the policies of the state’s GOP governing majority.
The most prudent option is often to keep a low profile, especially when trying to navigate the complicated regulatory policies of the state and federal governments. But that’s become harder to do amid today’s intensely polarizing politics.
Georgia 2026
In Georgia’s Democratic primary for governor, candidates Jason Esteves and Keisha Lance Bottoms are linked more with former President Joe Biden than U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive leader from New York.
Meanwhile, Michael Thurmond doesn’t exactly hail from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, considering running as a Democrat, is no far-left firebrand.
That all raises the question: is there room in the 2026 governor’s race for a more AOC-like contender?
Lately, we’ve heard growing chatter about a potential bid by state Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Duluth Democrat firmly rooted in the party’s left flank. Romman isn’t commenting, but we’ve seen polling that tests her as a potential candidate.
Transgender lawsuit
When Georgia lawmakers voted to ban taxpayer funded transgender surgeries on prison inmates, it capped an emotional debate in the Legislature highlighted by a Democratic walkout.
Now, that debate will continue in the courts. Five transgender inmates — two men and three women — have filed a class action lawsuit to block Senate Bill 185. Four of them have been receiving hormone therapy for years to treat gender dysphoria. A fifth inmate has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and is seeking an evaluation for treatment.
The inmates are getting help from the Center for Constitutional Rights. The group released a statement from Isis Benjamin, a transgender woman incarcerated at Coastal State Prison.
“I know there are people who will take their lives if this law is not blocked,” she said.
Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican who is also running for governor, responded with his own news release.
“It’s absurd that this is even a conversation,” he said. “Georgia taxpayers should never cover the costs for a prisoner’s sex change. Period. I’ll fight this all the way to the Supreme Court.”
The debate stems from a 2023 settlement of a lawsuit filed by several transgender state employees who were denied coverage for treatment they were prescribed for their transitions. The state agreed to cover gender dysphoria treatments and pay $365,000 in legal fees.
That settlement was handled by Carr’s office, and the Republican was later dinged by critics over his role in the litigation.
Carr’s camp suggests it’s more nuanced than that. His spokeswoman Kara Murray said it was up to the state agency, not his office, to decide whether to settle the case.
Campaign watch
Clarence Blalock, a political consultant and geographic information systems analyst, announced his campaign for Georgia labor commissioner on Tuesday. He’s the first Democrat to enter the 2026 race against Republican incumbent Barbara Rivera Holmes.
“While Georgia touts itself as a great state to do business, it remains an awful state to be a worker,” he said in a statement, echoing a promise on his campaign website to advocate for “union labor and fair wages.”
But even as Blalock launches his bid, Rivera Holmes is still considered the favorite in the race. She was appointed to the position by Gov. Brian Kemp in March, months after the death of former commissioner Bruce Thompson.
The labor commissioner’s job has been largely out of reach for Democrats. In 2022, Thompson beat former Democratic state Rep. William Boddie by nearly 7 percentage points. Before that, in 2018, Republican Mark Butler won against Democrat Richard Keatley by 5 percentage points.
Before entering the labor commissioner race, Blalock ended his campaign challenging U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, for the District 14 House seat.
Blalock also ran for Congress in the heavily Republican district last year, losing to Democratic primary opponent Shawn Harris in a runoff by 38 percentage points.
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan joins the show to discuss his decision to leave the GOP and join the Democratic Party.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
Summer lunch
Georgia Democrats are ramping up their criticism of Gov. Brian Kemp because of his refusal to participate in a summer nutrition program for the second year in a row.
Led by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, every Democrat in Georgia’s congressional delegation signed a letter sent to Kemp on Monday asking him to accept the Summer EBT Program funding.
“Summer EBT would provide the poorest children and families with a $40 benefit per eligible child per month, totaling $120 dollars for the summer,” the letter said. “Of the roughly 2.8 million children in Georgia, over 40% of them are eligible for this benefit but are prevented from participating due to your continued decision to not participate in the program.”
Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas called Summer EBT “a pandemic, Biden-era program that lacks nutritional standards and fiscal accountability and sustainability.” He noted Georgia “is seeing success with our own summer meal programs.”
That includes the Seamless Summer program from the Georgia Department of Education, which provided more than 6.7 million meals last year.
Trump today
- President Donald Trump has no public events on his schedule. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold a briefing for reporters at 1 p.m.
‘Benefits Over Billionaires’
California U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a potential Democratic presidential contender in 2028, is bringing his “Benefits Over Billionaires” rally to Atlanta next week.
Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, a progressive activist, will join him at the event co-hosted by Protect Our Care on Monday evening. Khanna says he is holding the event to hear from people impacted by Trump’s layoffs of federal workers or the cuts coming as part of the tax and spending package known as the “big, beautiful bill.”
“Democrats need to be in every state right now calling out the Republican cuts to Medicaid. That includes Georgia and communities across the South,” Khanna said in a statement. “When we show up, we can’t just talk. We need to listen to people and understand how the system has failed them.”
Shoutouts
Today’s birthday:
- State Rep. Brad Thomas, R-Holly Springs.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
President Donald Trump extended a trade truce with China for another 90 days, delaying new tariffs on the world’s second largest economy.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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