Trump-Backed Candidate for Georgia Governor Loses His Primary to Billionaire First-Time Candidate

President Trump’s chosen candidate to be the Republican nominee in the Georgia gubernatorial race this year — lieutenant governor Burt Jones — has officially lost his primary to a billionaire and first-time candidate. This loss appears to be the second time this year that Mr. Trump’s endorsement has failed to drag a major candidate over a primary finish line. The Republican nominee, Rick Jackson, made his money in the health care services and pharmaceutical industries. He ran on a pledge to slash the state’s income tax and freeze property taxes. Mr. Jackson entered the race relatively late, declaring his candidacy in February of this year while the other leading candidates, including Mr. Jones and the state’s attorney general and secretary of state, kicked off their campaigns in 2025. Mr. Jackson came in first place in the initial round of voting last month, taking just over 38 percent to Mr. Jones’s 32.5 percent. On Tuesday, Mr. Jackson won the runoff, 53 percent to 47 percent. “I know what it’s like to feel like nobody sees you, especially the elite and the powerful,” Mr. Jackson, who grew up in poverty, said in his victory speech on Tuesday night. “When you grow up the way I did, you never forget where you came from. You never forget the families who are working harder than ever, but still falling behind.”Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Jones all the way back in August, saying at the time that he “has the Courage and Wisdom to deliver strong results for the incredible people of his wonderful State and Nation.”Towards the end of the campaign, Mr. Jones focused heavily on Mr. Jackson’s heavy spending on his own behalf. In total, Mr. Jackson spent more than $100 million of his own money in order to win the GOP nomination. Just last week, Mr. Jones ran an entirely AI-generated ad of Mr. Jackson being plastered over television screens, billboards, and mailing materials. Despite Mr. Trump’s long-running support for Mr. Jones — who, as a state senator, tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia — the president’s own allies had great things to say about Mr. Jackson during the primary. Speaker New Gingrich, a former Georgia congressman, and Senators Rick Scott and Ted Cruz all endorsed Mr. Jackson over Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones’s loss may be a blow to the perception of Mr. Trump’s influence in the party, though there’s another person who backed Mr. Jones to no avail, as well — Governor Brian Kemp, the outgoing popular Republican executive. In this year’s Senate primary in the state, Mr. Kemp suffered an even harsher defeat. Last year, he backed retired college football coach, Derek Dooley, to be the party’s standardbearer against Senator Jon Ossoff this year. Mr. Ossoff is the only Democrat in a Trump-won state who is seeking re-election to the Senate, and is seen by many as a political juggernaut. To day, Mr. Ossoff has raised more than $80 million. The Republican nominee this year will be Congressman Mike Collins, who won Mr. Trump’s endorsement last weekend in a surprise decision by the president. For weeks, it appeared that Mr. Trump would stay on the sidelines, though his support for Mr. Collins may have been enough to push him over the finish line. Mr. Collins ended up winning the primary runoff by just about 11 percent.

Trump-Backed Candidate for Georgia Governor Loses His Primary to Billionaire First-Time Candidate

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