Georgia Republicans handed President Donald Trump a primary-night setback Tuesday, rejecting his preferred candidate for governor and sending billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson into a general-election fight against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Jones’ loss made the Georgia runoff one of the sharpest rebukes yet of Trump’s primary-season muscle.
At the time NBC News called the runoff, Jackson was leading 53% to 47% with almost 80% of ballots counted.
Jones had entered the race with the clearest MAGA advantage after Trump backed him early.
Gov. Brian Kemp tried to rescue Jones in the final hours, endorsing him on the eve of the runoff.
Kemp’s endorsement leaned on Jones’ record in state government, from tax relief to law-enforcement benefits and tort reform.
“I believe Burt Jones will make a strong case to the voters for four more years of conservative leadership that ensures our state’s best days are ahead, while Democrats try to run from Keisha Lance Bottoms’ record of complete failure as mayor of Atlanta,” Kemp wrote.
“Marty, the girls, and I are proud to endorse Burt Jones to be the 84th Governor of the great state of Georgia and ask you to join us in supporting him on Tuesday.”
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But Jackson’s money and outsider profile proved enough to overcome both Trump and Kemp.
The first-time candidate reportedly poured more than $100 million of his own fortune into the race, turning the runoff into a test of whether a self-funded political newcomer could beat a Trump-anointed favorite with deep state-party ties.
Sen. Ted Cruz made one of the race’s most conspicuous late moves, siding with Jackson despite Trump’s preference for Jones.
“Rick has an extraordinary record, an extraordinary life story. And I also think he’s positioned to win. And the stakes are too high. This election is a battleground all across the country. We can’t afford to lose Georgia,” Cruz said in a Fox News interview after endorsing Jackson on Friday.
Cruz insisted the move was not about defying Trump, but about backing the Republican he believed could survive November.
“The president and I agree on the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is endorse the strongest conservative who can win,” Cruz added.
Jackson will now face Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, in the general election.
The Georgia governor’s race was not the only high-stakes contest on Tuesday’s primary map, and Trump’s night was not all bad.
Trump had better luck in Georgia’s Senate runoff, where Rep. Mike Collins carried the president’s late backing to victory.
Collins beat Kemp-backed former football coach Derek Dooley and will now take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
During the primary, Collins ran as the more Trump-aligned candidate and leaned on his work tied to the Laken Riley Act.
The law allows federal officials to detain certain undocumented immigrants accused or convicted of crimes including burglary or theft.
Ossoff wasted no time attacking his new Republican opponent. In a statement after Collins’ win, the Democratic senator called him “a notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars.”
“Collins, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, voted to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, for the Iran War, and for the Trump tariffs,” he continued.
In another Georgia House contest, Republican John Cowan was projected to win the runoff for retiring Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s seat.
Cowan is a neurosurgeon who previously came up short against former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in a neighboring district.
Trump-backed candidates also had better luck outside Georgia.
Alabama gave Trump another win when Rep. Barry Moore captured the Republican runoff for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s seat.
Moore defeated former U.S. Navy SEAL Jared Hudson in the Republican runoff, keeping another Trump-backed candidate on track in a deep-red state.
Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, also backed by Trump, won the GOP primary for the full Senate term opened by Markwayne Mullin’s departure.
Hern’s endorsement roster stretched from Trump to Gov. Kevin Stitt, Senate GOP leadership and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford.
“I grew up on an Air Force base, worked my way through school, built businesses, and served Oklahoma in Congress,” Hern posted in March. “Now I’m ready to fight for Oklahoma in the Senate.”
Trump also had influence in Oklahoma’s governor race, though that contest is not finished.
In the Oklahoma governor’s race, Trump-backed former state Sen. Mike Mazzei survived into a runoff after trailing state Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Mazzei pushed back on suggestions that Trump’s endorsement decisions were being managed by others.
“I think it’s incredibly bizarre and absurd for anyone to think that Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, doesn’t make his own decisions about who he wants to endorse,” Mazzei said in a KOCO5 News interview.
Drummond and Mazzei will face each other in an Aug. 25 runoff.
Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District also moved to a runoff between Pastors for Trump founder Jackson Lahmeyer and state Rep. Mark Tedford.
Lahmeyer had Trump’s backing and deep ties to the MAGA orbit.
The winner of that Aug. 25 runoff will face Democrat John Croisant, who was unopposed in his party’s primary.
