A billionaire, football coach and Trump's pick for governor advance in competitive Georgia primary

ATLANTA (CN) — A billionaire healthcare executive, a university football coach and President Donald Trump’s pick for governor are among the Republican candidates who came out on top in Georgia’s primary election Tuesday.

After pouring more than $83 million from his own pocket into the governor’s race, political newcomer Rick Jackson was successfully able to make a name for himself. Yet the billionaire executive of Alpharetta-based Jackson Healthcare was still 54,000 votes short of topping Trump’s pick, Burt Jones.

Despite declining national approval rates, the president’s stamp of approval proved beneficial for Jones, who earned the most votes at just over 38%.

Because neither Jones or Jackson earned more than 50% of the votes, the two will head to a runoff on June 16.

“I could not leave this stage without thanking President Donald J. Trump," Jones said at his election night watch party in Jackson, Georgia.

Just before Tuesday’s election, Trump reaffirmed his endorsement of Jones on social media, calling him a “warrior” who will fight for his MAGA agenda in Georgia.

That endorsement came after Jones stood by Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat in the state — which also led to more than $1 million worth of brutal attack ads from an unknown, Delaware-based organization called Georgians for Integrity.

As a former state senator who has served as the lieutenant governor since 2023, Jones touted his experience in the General Assembly and support of recent state income tax cuts.

However, Jones bolstered his campaign by exploiting a 2021 state law allowing the sitting governor and lieutenant governor to raise unlimited funds in leadership committees. This led to a $10 million boost from his personal finances as an executive in a family-owned oil company.

On the Democratic side of the ballot, Keisha Lance Bottoms clinched the nomination with 56% of the vote over state Senator Jason Esteves.

Bottoms’ name recognition as the former mayor of Atlanta drove her to the top, as well as her recent focus on the future of voting rights. She proposed creating an independent Georgia voting rights commission in response to Republican attempts to redraw congressional maps in their favor, following last month’s Supreme Court decision eroding the Voting Rights Act.

She also aspires to become not only the first Democrat to win a Georgia governor’s race since 1998, but the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. Her nomination marks the third consecutive time that Georgia Democrats have elected a Black woman as their candidate for governor, following Stacey Abrams as the nominee in the last two elections.

Yet, some critics remain concerned about her intentions as she turned down a second run for mayor to join the Biden administration as senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Supporters at Esteves’ watch party Tuesday night at Scofflaw Brewery in Atlanta praised the two-term state senator for his involvement in the community and his initiatives for universal childcare and tuition-free technical college.

“We need fresh energy,” photographer and community activist Melissa Bugg said. “Jason really fights for the underdog and underserved communities to get the resources they need whether its education, healthcare or affordable housing.”

However, the local support was ultimately not enough to get Esteves into a runoff, pulling in just 18% of the vote.

Senate showdown

In the Senate race, Jon Ossoff ran for reelection unopposed as the youngest incumbent U.S. senator in the country. Having earned high approval ratings since his election in 2021, Ossoff poses a steep challenge for his Republican opponent.

That will be either current congressman Mike Collins or former University of Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley.

In the hotly contested race, neither candidate received more than half of the total votes needed to secure their spot in the November general election.

Collins received 10% more votes than Dooley. While delivering remarks Tuesday night, Collins credited his time in the U.S. House and passage of the Laken Riley Act — named after a slain 22-year-old university student — which requires immigration officials to detain immigrants without bail for specific crimes.

“It just simply makes sure that these illegal, violent criminals are picked up and deported sooner,” Collins told his supporters. “That was the very first piece of legislation Donald Trump signed when he returned to the White House.”

But Dooley’s endorsement from Republican Governor Brian Kemp enabled the Nick Saban understudy to gain ground as a political outsider.

Elected to his current term in 2022, Kemp has served for two terms and enjoyed high approval ratings.

“The D.C. crowd, they’ve been attacking me. They don’t want an outsider, they want an insider. Because they’re all in bed together, which is why I was attacked before I was even announced as a candidate,” Dooley told supporters.

Unlike other races in the primary, the contests for judgeships on the state’s Supreme Court were decided Tuesday night.

Democrats strongly encouraged turnout in hopes of producing the first defeat of an incumbent justice since 1922. But their candidates, former state Senator Jen Jordan and trial lawyer Miracle Rankin, were defeated by Justice Sarah Hawkins and Justice Charlie Bethel.

Their losses come amid an investigation by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission over whether Jordan and Rankin violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly endorsing each other and making statements supporting the restoration of reproductive rights. Jordan and Rankin filed a lawsuit claiming such campaign restrictions violate their First Amendment rights.

Election questions persist

More than 1 million total votes were cast and turnout for early voting broke a new record with about 866,000 voters, the most in a Georgia primary since 2022. Democrats flocked to the polls, topping Republicans by more than 154,000 votes.

Charles Bullock, a professor of political science and public and international affairs at the University of Georgia, noted the last blue voter wave in 2020 led to major victories for the party. Now many voters are displeased with Trump’s second term.

“This might be the best year they’ve seen in a while,” Bullock said of Democrats in Georgia.

Total results did not come in until after 11 p.m. due to a Fulton County polling place staying open until that time after spending four hours shut down. The Ison Springs Elementary School in Sandy Springs, Georgia, was placed on a “soft” lockdown while police investigated reports of possible gunshots and a suspicious person dressed in heavy military-style gear at a nearby park.

Also on Tuesday, Greg Dolezal, who will face fellow Republican state Senator John Kennedy in a runoff for the lieutenant governor nomination, sought access to the state’s central election reporting operations hub. But a Fulton County judge denied Dolezal and State Election Board members’ request, ruling that they failed to follow a state law requiring both sides to have their say in court.

The move comes as Georgia, particularly Fulton County, continues to face scrutiny from Trump over its handling of the 2020 election.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who infamously refuted Trump’s demands to “find” enough votes for him to win the election, reminded the public that no actual ballot counting takes place at this office’s election reporting headquarters.

“If you’re concerned with the integrity of the election, you should visit one or several of the 149 county tabulation centers today, instead of trying to confuse voters,” Raffensperger said at a press conference Tuesday.

Despite overseeing Georgia’s elections for two terms, Raffensperger’s bid for governor ultimately fell short, signaling many Republicans may still lack confidence in the election process.

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