Republican businessman Rick Jackson won Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, defeating Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and setting up a high-profile general election race against Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms for the state’s top office.
Jackson’s victory Tuesday capped one of the most expensive and bitter Republican primaries in Georgia history, Politico reported. The billionaire health care executive overcame endorsements Jones received from President Donald Trump and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who made a late push for the lieutenant governor as GOP voters chose Kemp’s potential successor.
The result is a major upset for Georgia’s political establishment. Jones entered the race with statewide office, a deep network of allies and Trump’s backing, while Jackson cast himself as a political outsider with business experience and the resources to carry his message across the state.
Jackson gave his campaign more than $93 million of his own money, The Associated Press reported, making him one of the nation’s most heavily self-funded candidates. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the contest as the most expensive Republican gubernatorial primary in Georgia history, with combined spending approaching $160 million.
The fall campaign now pits Jackson against Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and Biden White House official who won the Democratic nomination outright in May. Bottoms is trying to become the first Democrat elected Georgia governor since Roy Barnes won in 1998.
The winner will replace Kemp, who cannot seek another consecutive term. The Georgia governor’s office oversees the executive branch, enforces state laws, commands the state’s military forces and can veto bills passed by the Legislature.
Jackson’s challenge now is to unite Republicans after a costly intraparty fight while Bottoms tries to turn the race into Democrats’ best chance to reclaim the governor’s mansion in more than two decades.
