Georgia's Republican primary race for governor will head to a runoff on June 16, with Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson advancing after neither candidate secured enough votes to win the nomination outright on Tuesday. The two men — one a seasoned political insider, the other a self-funded newcomer — will now continue what has already become one of the most expensive primary battles in recent state history.
Jones, who holds the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, positioned himself as the natural standard-bearer for conservative Republicans, citing his record in the state senate and as lieutenant governor. Jackson, by contrast, ran as an anti-establishment outsider, pouring nearly $50 million of his own money into advertising and accusing Jones of being "a political insider working inside the system for his own benefit." Together, Republican candidates spent more than $125 million on advertising in the governor's race, with Jackson's campaign alone accounting for more than $66 million of that total, according to advertising-tracking firm AdImpact. The winner will seek to replace Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.
Notably absent from the runoff is Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state and a longtime target of Trump's ire following the 2020 presidential election, who was on track to finish a distant third. A victory for Jones in June would be seen as a boost to Trump's influence in Georgia, a state that has shifted in recent years from a reliable Republican stronghold to a competitive swing state — narrowly backing Joe Biden in 2020 and electing two Democratic senators.
On the Democratic side, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, endorsed by Biden, won her party's gubernatorial nomination outright, avoiding a runoff. The Democrats have not won the governorship since 1998. In the Republican race to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November, Representative Mike Collins, a Trump-aligned congressman who owns a family trucking business, advanced as the top vote-getter and will face former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley in the June 16 runoff.
The breadth of competitive races underscores Georgia's growing significance in American national politics. With well-funded candidates on both sides and a Democratic Party energised by a high-profile gubernatorial field, November's general election is widely expected to be closely contested across multiple offices.