Gov. Brian Kemp has been taking steps to stay in the national conversation. But for the first time, the second-term Republican definitively ruled out a White House bid, even as he outlined a range of preferred candidates to take on President Joe Biden.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kemp said he isn’t thinking of a presidential run. When asked how he sized up the field, he name-checked just about every contender except for former President Donald Trump, who famously tried — and failed — to oust him last year in his 2022 GOP primary.
“I have a great relationship with (Mike) Pence and a really good relationship with (Ron) DeSantis. Chris Christie came and campaigned for us multiple times, along with a lot of other governors. I know Tim Scott real well. Nikki Haley came and campaigned for us. I've known her over the years, and I've gotten to meet [Mike] Pompeo a couple of times. So I'm kind of like everybody else, I'm just seeing how things are playing out and keeping an open mind."
One candidate is missing from that list. “Yeah, I haven't heard from Trump."
The governor also spoke about his 2020 exchange with Trump about the governor’s decision to reopen parts of Georgia’s economy in the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Kemp said a “furious” Trump called him and tried to get him to reverse course. Kemp told him he can “take the heat.”
Kemp recounted the rest:
“Well, see what you can do," the president said. “Hair salons aren't essential and bowling alleys, tattoo parlors aren't essential."
“With all due respect, those are our people," Mr. Kemp said. “They're the people that elected us. They're the people that are wondering who's fighting for them. We're fixin' to lose them over this, because they're about to lose everything. They are not going to sit in their basement and lose everything they got over a virus."
Once his decision was made, Kemp said Trump became furious and “absolutely trashed” him in the news media.
“After running over me with the bus on Monday, he backed over me on Tuesday.”
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Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 39:
- 8 a.m.: The House and Senate Appropriations Conference Committee meets to discuss HB 19, the 2024 state budget;
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
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ON OUR RADARS. We’re down to the wire for the 2024 legislative session, with negotiations over the state budget and plenty of other big-ticket items still unresolved.
And here’s what’s on our radars:
- House Bill 237, the stripped and retrofitted bill to allow sports betting in Georgia, could see Senate action soon;
- The push for state oversight of local District Attorneys, which would be created by Senate Bill 92, could still be passed by the House;
- House Bill 520, the follow-up to last year’s mental health care overhaul, has passed the House, but not the Senate. It had not had a final Senate committee vote by the end of last week;
- The bill to define antisemitism as a hate crime, House Bill 144, is on the Senate calendar for a vote this week, but it won’t happen before a Capitol news conference sponsored by CAIR-Georgia (Council on American-Islamic Relations) protesting the bill, now scheduled for this morning.
- Senate Bill 35, which had been a bill to create a license plate for Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, has been revamped to create the Wrongful Conviction Compensation Review Panel. The panel would oversee the process of compensating people wrongly convicted in the state, and is now waiting for Senate approval.
For more bills to watch, AJC’s Mark Niesse and Maya T. Prabhu have their list of what they’re following in the final two days. And our colleague, James Salzer reminds us why the march to midnight on Wednesday can be a dangerous time for good government folks.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
RETREAT FOR NOW. One bill that won’t pass this year is a Senate-side effort to eliminate the state’s certificate of need requirement to open new hospitals.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones abandoned an effort over the weekend, but not before accusing Wellstar lobbyists of dangling a deal to allow a new hospital in his hometown if he relented on the broader deregulation push that has divided state powerbrokers. That’s an accusation that Wellstar strongly denied.
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Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
STATE OF THE STATE. Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Sunday after weekend tornadoes ripped through parts of the South, including Georgia.
The governor, first lady Marty Kemp, and GEMA (Georgia Emergency Management Agency) Director Chris Stallings will travel Monday to areas of the state affected by the dangerous storms, including Milledgeville and West Point.
At least five were injured in West Point, where a tornado was confirmed by radar.
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Credit: Ryon Horne/AJC
Credit: Ryon Horne/AJC
STATE OF THE CITY. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is set to give his annual address on city progress Tuesday. And one of the VIPs in the audience will be Gov. Brian Kemp, in another testament to the improving relationship between the two offices.
One of your Insiders sat down with Dickens at length on Friday to discuss the next steps in the proposed public safety center. Check out the interview and the story by our AJC colleague Riley Bunch.
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GREENE FOR SENATE … SOMEDAY? Former President Donald Trump helped persuade David Perdue to run for governor, Herschel Walker to run for Senate and Jody Hice to compete for secretary of state. All three strategic choices failed spectacularly.
Now, he’s suggesting that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the nation’s most polarizing Republicans, run for U.S. Senate. At a rally in Waco, Texas, over the weekend, Trump called Greene “brilliant.”
“Would you like to run for the Senate?” Trump said, turning to Greene from the podium. “I would fight like hell for you.” It wasn’t clear if Trump knew that Georgia’s next Senate seat won’t come up for election until 2026.
Gov. Brian Kemp is seen as a top GOP contender for Senate in three years against Democrat Jon Ossoff. His allies cringed at Trump’s comments.
“Georgians will decide for themselves who their elected officials are just like they did in 2022,” said Georgia Republican operative Stephen Lawson, “not out of state failed career politicians.”
As for Greene, she has more frequently been discussed as a potential running mate for Trump.
***
Credit: Jason Getz / AJC
Credit: Jason Getz / AJC
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House and Senate both have votes scheduled this evening as members count down the days until a two-week recess.
- President Joe Biden will be joined by women business leaders, including Sara Blakely, the founder of Atlanta-based Spanx, for the second annual Women’s Business Summit at the White House.
***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
TRAINING CENTER VIOLENCE. Republican members of Georgia’s congressional delegation filed a resolution last week condemning the violence at the proposed public safety training center in Atlanta.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter took the lead on the language, and six other Georgia GOP members signed on as cosponsors: Reps. Andrew Clyde, Drew Ferguson, Austin Scott, Rich McCormick, Barry Loudermilk and Rick Allen.
The resolution points out that all but two of the protestors arrested at the site earlier this month and accused of property damage and domestic terrorism live outside of Georgia.
“Georgians back the blue and I am proud to lead this resolution in defense of our brave law enforcement officers,” Carter, R-Pooler, said in a statement. “Not only were these attacks violent and unnecessary, but these criminals claimed to be protecting the site against ‘ecological destruction’ while destroying it with fireworks and Molotov cocktails.”
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PAGE ALERT. If you’re at the Capitol on Monday and happen to see a House page with the last name Bluestein, that’s your Insider’s 12-year-old daughter Nicole. Say hey!
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. If you need any more proof that dogs are truly members of the family, look no further than Abby and Wendy, the soon-to-be-sibling pups of Shannon Basford and state Rep. Tyler Paul Smith, R-Breman.
Basford and Smith were recently engaged and will each bring a dog of their own to the marriage. Abby, who is Smith’s 12-year-old Boykin spaniel, is a three-legged cancer survivor. Wendy is a mix and “purebred good girl” who has called Basford her person since the Nathan Deal-alum adopted her three years ago during the coronavirus pandemic.
Although not yet officially married, the four are already one happy family, as evidenced here by their official engagement photo.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats, on a cat-by-cat basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
