Provocative film executive enters Georgia House race with $4M pledge
Republican Ryan Millsap entered the race for an open U.S. House seat in northeast Georgia on Wednesday, pledging to spend up to $4 million of his own fortune and bring what he called a “titanium backbone” to support President Donald Trump.
His late entry is a direct challenge to GOP state Rep. Houston Gaines, the early front-runner in the wide-open contest to succeed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins in the deep-red 10th Congressional District in east Georgia.
But Millsap, an Atlanta film studio executive and real estate investor, will face scrutiny over past criticism of Trump and Republican priorities, including Gov. Brian Kemp’s 2019 anti-abortion law that passed with Gaines’ support.
He also will confront questions about racist and antisemitic sentiments he shared in text messages that surfaced in court filings and a joint investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ProPublica. Millsap has apologized for “any and all pain my words have caused.”
His campaign launch suggests he intends to confront his political vulnerabilities head-on. In a six-figure opening ad buy, Millsap is shown pulverizing a cinder block with a sledgehammer and shooting a semiautomatic rifle.
“I’m running to smash the status quo and fight back against the radical left and the RINOs,” he said in the ad. “I bought into their lies, too. But COVID and antifa made me realize they sold us out.”
His entry is one of the surprises during qualifying week, the five-day period that ends Friday for candidates to formally file to run for office.
It also poses a threat to Gaines, who is attempting one of the swiftest political ascents in Georgia — from University of Georgia student body president to a seat in Congress in barely a decade.
A close ally of Kemp, Gaines has helped steer GOP priorities on crime and prosecution, including a 2023 law giving the state new powers to oust local prosecutors and hard-line immigration crackdowns after the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student killed on UGA’s campus by a migrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. unlawfully.
“Our district isn’t for sale to a California film executive,” Gaines said. “We’ve had enough of Hollywood in Georgia. I look forward to winning this primary and keeping this seat red in November.”
The former owner of Blackhall Studios, Millsap has been a mainstay in Atlanta real estate, political and entertainment circles since moving to Georgia from California in 2014. He has long been a reliable promoter of the state’s once-booming film industry.
As lawmakers debated the 2019 anti-abortion measure, Millsap echoed concerns from industry leaders that the law could hurt Georgia’s standing as a film hub. And in past episodes of his “Blackhall Podcast” and other recordings, he struck a skeptical tone about Trump.
But Millsap says his clashes in 2022 with activists over forestland in south Atlanta — where opponents protested studio plans they said would create a “Hollywood dystopia” — marked a turning point in his political views.
In announcing his campaign, he blasted what he described as a liberal left that has “imposed their world view on Washington while RINOs have sat back and watched.”
“I’m running because we need someone with a titanium backbone who doesn’t care about climbing the political ladder,” Millsap said, “but is running to defeat the radical left once and for all and end the reign of radical lunatic liberals and impotent RINOs in Congress.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a response from state Sen. Houston Gaines.
About the Author
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.
