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By Alex J. Rouhandeh
National Political Correspondent
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The June 16 Primaries offered a complicated picture of Republican politics. While President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates won in the Alabama and Georgia senate runoffs, and advanced to the runoff in the Oklahoma gubernatorial primary, billionaire businessman Rick Jackson secured the Georgia governor’s nomination—despite being on the wrong end of the president’s endorsement.
Candidates with the Trump stamp of approval generally win GOP primaries, so the Georgia governor results don’t exactly tell an authoritative story on the president’s endorsing power. However, they do paint an interesting picture of state politics and where the party could head in 2028.
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It wasn’t just Trump who endorsed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones over Jackson. The state’s current governor, Brian Kemp—an establishment figure—did as well. As some may recall, Kemp beat the Trump-endorsed challenger, former Senator David Perdue, in 2022 to maintain the governorship. Sources in Georgia Republican politics since then have flicked at a Trump vs. Kemp undercurrent within the state party. However, the June 16 election resulted in neither man picking up a victory in the race, which wasn’t exactly a nail-biter. Jackson held 52.7 percent of the vote to Jones’ 47.4 percent. So, what’s going on in Georgia state politics?
The simple answer is outsiders are in. Jackson, who grew up in foster care, comes from the world of business and has not held political office before. The 72-year-old runs Jackson Healthcare, a health care staffing and services company that grew from state contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Invoking the businessman outsider who now leads his party, Jackson said he’d govern “like Trump, but with a Southern tone” and in turn pledged to freeze Georgia’s property tax and cut the state’s income tax in half.
However, despite Jackson’s belief that he’s “going to be Trump’s favorite governor,” there are lingering questions about whether he’ll be able to ride the MAGA wave to the governor’s mansion in a year expected to be tough for Republicans. Notably, Jackson—who has a history of political giving—donated to Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy in 2024, per Axios, only giving to Trump’s network for the first time eight weeks before launching his campaign.
Jackson is no doubt conservative, boasting endorsements from Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich. However, his giving record and policy focus indicate he may be more of a Tea Party conservative than a full-blown MAGA or establishment guy like Kemp.
As the Republican Party turns toward its future, it will be significant to see whether candidates like Jackson can emerge as a true third option in GOP primaries, fitting somewhere between MAGA populists and the traditional establishment in the political continuum. If he wins, Jackson may inspire others to try that lane come 2028, yet there’s a tough road ahead of him. Georgia Democrats are in lockstep behind former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and believe now is the time for the governor’s mansion to go blue for the first time since 2003.
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