Insurance chief John King jumps into Georgia’s U.S. Senate race

Insurance Commissioner John King launched his campaign for U.S. Senate on Monday, stressing his military background and law enforcement experience as he cast Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff as too liberal for Georgia.

King, the first Hispanic elected to statewide political office on Georgia, is aiming to bridge the divide between the party’s more establishment wing and the President Donald Trump loyalists who dominate the GOP base.

His announcement comes after a week of major developments in the race against Ossoff. After being recruited heavily by Republican leaders, Gov. Brian Kemp opted against a run last Monday, triggering a chain reaction. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also ruled out a bid, while U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter of St. Simons jumped in.

As other Republicans consider joining the two major Republicans already in the nomination contest, Kemp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he hopes to soon meet with Trump to discuss unifying behind one candidate, though he cautioned that finding consensus is “hard to do in primaries.”

Like Carter, King’s opening message focused on his loyalty to Trump, a dominant force in state GOP politics despite lagging approval ratings. And he leveled scathing attacks against Ossoff, one of the top Republican targets on the 2026 ballot.

King also highlighted his background as a former Atlanta Police Department beat cop and a recently retired major general in the U.S. Army National Guard who has deployed to conflicts across the globe.

“It’s time for a change. I’ve led troops in combat, been blown up by an IED in Iraq, and been shot and stabbed in the line of duty as a cop,” King said. “A tough campaign doesn’t scare me. Giving Jon Ossoff six more years in the Senate does.”

A native of Mexico, King is a fluent Spanish speaker who has become one of the state’s most prominent Latino leaders. His announcement video was in both English and Spanish.

He rose from the ranks of Atlanta police officers to Doraville police chief before Kemp appointed him as insurance commissioner in 2019. He was tapped to succeed Jim Beck, who was convicted of charges he swindled his former employer.

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

King was elected to a full term in 2022,demolishing a Trump-backed primary challenger — one of four defeated by GOP incumbents that cycle.

It was unclear if the president had a reason to target King in that race beyond his close ties to Kemp, who at the time was a top target of Trump and his allies.

Since then, the truce between Kemp and Trump has redefined Georgia’s political landscape. King, meanwhile, has worked to get in Trump’s good graces since that election and was a featured speaker last year at several of his Georgia rallies.

The commissioner has laid the groundwork for a Senate bid for months, including meeting in Washington with Senate GOP leaders and appearances at Republican events across the state. He’s a vocal champion of Kemp‘s legislative agenda.

Still, he faces a steep climb building name recognition with voters, and a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll showed him trailing Ossoff by 13 points in a head-to-head race.

Credit: AJC

He also doesn’t have the same financial firepower as Carter, a wealthy pharmacist who already booked more than $2 million in ad buys to promote his run and, officials say, intends to spend at least $10 million to partly self-finance his campaign.

King’s allies say he brings other advantages, starting with his military credentials and close ties to Kemp. He’s also looking to more aggressively court Trump as other MAGA favorites, including U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of Jackson, weigh a run.

Credit: Jason Allen/AJC

On Monday, King branded Ossoff “California’s third senator” over his immigration stance, his vote to block some arms sales to Israel, and his opposition to a GOP-backed measure to ban transgender girls from competing in women’s sports.

And in an interview, he took a shot at Carter, who grabbed headlines by proposing a measure to allow the U.S. to negotiate for control of Greenland -- and to rename the island “Red, White and Blueland.”

“We have too much performance, a lot of theater today, of people going and renaming an island. Come on,” King said. “We need to get to the serious business of this country. And I think that’s what Georgia voters want. They’re tired of the noise.”

He also pointed to a team with deep Georgia ties, including Dan McLagan, a veteran of past Republican Senate campaigns and a longtime fixture in state GOP politics.

“It will be a contest between a tested leader who got stabbed, shot and blown up as a cop who is a proven combat commander against a lefty bro like Ossoff who looks like he travels with a personal manicurist,” McLagan said.

Ossoff, who has built an $11 million war chest and beefed up his political infrastructure, has said he’s ready for whoever emerges from the messy GOP contest.

“While GOP candidates bicker and audition for Trump’s endorsement,” he told the AJC last week, “they will be made to answer for his failures and abuses.”

Democratic Party of Georgia chair Charlie Bailey, too, framed the GOP contest as a race to the “MAGA far-right.”

“King will undoubtedly spend the next eighteen months defending Trump every step of the way,” Bailey said, “even when it hurts Georgia families."

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