In Georgia, Republican primary for governor goes to a runoff : NPR
People line up in a precinct before voting in a Georgia primary.
Brynn Anderson/AP
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Brynn Anderson/AP
The race for the Republican nomination for Georgia governor is heading to a runoff, according to a race called by the Associated Press.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will face Health Care Director Rick Jackson on June 16. The result advanced two candidates who closely aligned with President Trump over two others who had opposed his attempts to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election.
Jones, who has served as lieutenant governor since 2023, is endorsed by Trumpwhom he supported from the start of Trump’s first campaign for president. Federal prosecutors investigated Jones for allegedly serving as a bogus voter in a scheme to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, but declined to charge him in 2024.
Although Jackson, a health care company owner, does not have Trump’s support, he has aligned himself closely with the president and compared himself to him as a fellow billionaire.
Jackson and Jones I spent millions of dollars on television have been attacking ads against each other since Jackson entered the race earlier this year.
The primary tested the strength of Trump’s support and MAGA base in Georgia. Trump lost Georgia by about 11,000 votes in 2020 and won the state in 2024.
Georgia, which has a Republican-controlled state government and two Democratic U.S. senators, will be a key state in November and could help decide the party balance in the Senate. Meanwhile, gubernatorial primaries serve as a temperature gauge of each party’s voter priorities.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr also ran on the Republican ticket for governor, but did not win enough votes to advance to the runoff. Raffensperger and Carr have taken a less Trump-centric approach to their campaigns. Carr, in campaign ads, has described himself as a “Brian Kemp Republican,” named after the Republican governor of Georgia, who has at times been at odds with Trump.
Raffensperger clashed with Trump in 2020, when Trump asked him to “find” about 11,000 votes to help him win the state. Carr, as attorney general, had also supported the state’s voting results, which went to Joe Biden.
Georgia voters are also awaiting results from the Democratic gubernatorial primary and the Republican Senate primary. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff faced no opposition for his party’s nomination as he seeks a second term in November.
On the Democratic side of the gubernatorial race, primary voters must choose between former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is supported by former President Joe Bidenformer Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who was a Republican but became a Democrat, former state Sen. Jason Esteves and former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.
The primary voters in this race may provide insight into the divide between moderate and progressive Democrats in the state.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Sarah Kallis covers politics at GPB.
