Trump and Kemp reshape Georgia’s runoff battles with late endorsements
President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp made separate but seismic moves Sunday to shape Georgia’s marquee Republican runoffs, intervening just as voters prepared to settle nomination fights that will define the midterms.
President Donald Trump jolted the Senate race by endorsing U.S. Rep. Mike Collins over former football coach Derek Dooley, undercutting Gov. Brian Kemp’s hand-picked candidate in a contest that doubles as a fight over the party’s best path to defeat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Hours later, Kemp made his own move, backing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for governor against billionaire Rick Jackson, a bruising and costly contest that has drawn roughly $160 million in spending and tested Trump’s influence in Georgia.
Together, the endorsements put the weight of Trump and Kemp — whose yearslong feud dominated state politics for much of the decade — behind candidates who could determine which vision of the Republican Party prevails.
Elsewhere, Republicans will settle the nomination for one of Georgia’s four open GOP-held congressional seats, while voters from both parties choose nominees for lieutenant governor, secretary of state and other down-ballot contests.
Here’s a look at the races we’re watching.
A $160M slugfest
It’s the most expensive Republican primary for governor in Georgia history. And one of the nastiest.
Jones appeared headed toward a smooth nomination after securing Trump’s endorsement and consolidating support from much of the party establishment.
Then Jackson surprised just about everyone in state politics when he entered the race in February.
The healthcare tycoon proceeded to spend more than $105 million of his own fortune, helping transform the contest into one of the most expensive races in America this campaign season. Jones, meanwhile, has spent about $26 million of his family’s fortune on the race.
What followed was a bruising battle fought in courtrooms, on television, in the state Legislature and across the campaign trail. Both candidates embrace Trump’s agenda and support the same conservative priorities, including tax cuts and culture war initiatives.
But they have spent months arguing over something else entirely: trust.
Jones portrays Jackson as a bandwagon convert to the MAGA movement trying to buy the governor’s office. Jackson casts Jones as a career politician whose ties to state government and family business interests make him part of the problem.
Trump hangs over it all. The president endorsed Jones nearly a year ago and has repeatedly reaffirmed his support, including during a tele-rally days before the runoff. But Jackson campaigns as the true MAGA standard-bearer and has promised to be the president’s “favorite governor.”
Now Kemp has entered the picture, too. His late endorsement gives Jones the backing of Georgia’s two most powerful Republicans and raises the stakes for Jackson, who built much of his campaign around challenging the party’s establishment.
A Senate Republican identity crisis
This runoff has become a broader fight over the future of the Georgia GOP.
Collins, who led the May primary field, frames himself as the race’s most unapologetic MAGA candidate and argues the party faithful want a brawler closely aligned with Trump at the top of the ticket.
But he also points to a record of “getting things done” in Washington, including a crackdown on illegal immigration named for slain nursing student Laken Riley.
Dooley has emerged as the standard-bearer for Republicans who argue the party needs more than enthusiasm from its base voters to win statewide in November. He argues he is better positioned to attract crossover voters while committing to a pledge that includes term limits and bans on congressional stock trading.
For some Republicans, the race amounts to a choice between two competing theories of how to prevail in purplish Georgia: energizing the GOP base or building a broader coalition.
But Trump’s endorsement of Collins on Sunday transformed it into something else: a proxy fight between Trump and Kemp.
The political understudies
The most heated down-ballot fight may be the Republican race for lieutenant governor, where state Sen. Greg Dolezal and former state Sen. John F. Kennedy have spent months battering each other with negative ads, digital attacks and campaign spots generated by artificial intelligence.
Both candidates are running as conservatives aligned with the party’s base, though Kennedy has emphasized his legal and policy credentials while Dolezal has cast himself as a more combative outsider.
On the Democratic side, State Sen. Josh McLaurin faces former state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes in a contest that has turned increasingly personal.
McLaurin has criticized Parkes for resigning from the state Senate to pursue higher office. Parkes argues McLaurin lacks the profile to mount a competitive statewide campaign.
The Republican runoff for secretary of state pits state Rep. Tim Fleming, a former Kemp aide with broad party support, against party-switching ex-Democrat Vernon Jones, the former DeKalb County chief executive who has unsuccessfully sought other GOP offices.
Democrats are also choosing a nominee in a closely watched runoff between Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett and former judge Penny Brown Reynolds.
Barrett has built her campaign around voting rights and her role in battles over Fulton County’s election system. Reynolds has emphasized her experience as a judge, federal official and voting rights advocate.
The House race without a kingmaker
The race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk stands out because it’s the one major Republican runoff where the cavalry never arrived.
Trump hasn’t endorsed longtime congressional aide Rob Adkerson or neurosurgeon John Cowan. Neither have Kemp, U.S. Rep. Brian Jack or other party powerbrokers who often help settle intraparty fights.
That vacuum has left both candidates to fight over who can best claim the district’s conservative mantle.
Cowan, who finished first in the May primary, has campaigned as a staunch Trump ally even as rivals have resurfaced some of his old social media posts critical of Trump and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who defeated him in a 2020 runoff.
Adkerson, a longtime Loudermilk aide, campaigns as the race’s more reliable conservative and has lined up support from prominent local Republicans.
A special election with special stakes
There are roughly a dozen legislative runoffs on Tuesday’s ballot, but one of the most unusual might be a special election in Gwinnett County.
The contest to fill the remainder of Parkes’ term comes a day before lawmakers return to Atlanta for a special session on redistricting and voting changes.
An upset by Republican Aizaz Shaikh over Democrat Adrienne White would pad the GOP’s Senate majority just as that fight begins and give Republicans bragging rights for flipping a left-leaning seat.
Republicans are already outpacing Democrats in early voting, driven by marquee GOP runoffs for governor and U.S. Senate. The turnout gap has rattled Democrats, with some activists comparing it to a “five-alarm fire.”
The race for the full two-year term is also intriguing, pitting civil rights attorney Rahul Garabadu against state Rep. Ruwa Romman in a proxy fight over the direction of the party’s progressive wing.
Republicans have compelling contests, too, including the battle for an Athens-based Senate seat between entrepreneur Marc McMain and attorney Doug McKillip. McKillip is seeking a political comeback more than a decade after he switched parties.
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.
