Brian Kemp passed on a Georgia Senate run. Then he threw himself in the middle of the GOP primary

By Arlette Saenz, CNN

Milton, Georgia (CNN) — Brian Kemp may not be running for US Senate — but the Georgia governor is campaigning like his name is on the ballot.

“I want to win our Senate seat back,” Kemp told voters at a bike and coffee shop here just days ahead of Tuesday’s primary. “We haven’t done so well in US Senate races here in the state of Georgia in the last several cycles, and we have one more opportunity to try to get one of our Senate seats back. And we got to have the right person to do that.”

National Republicans long viewed term-limited Kemp as their strongest candidate to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, but the governor passed on the opportunity last May after months of private lobbying by GOP leaders. Now, Republicans are grappling with a splintered field in Georgia that some worry could hinder their chances of flipping the seat in November and boost the Democrats’ chances of winning the majority in the Senate.

The right person, Kemp believes, is Derek Dooley — a former head football coach at the University of Tennessee. He’s running against two MAGA-aligned congressmen — Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will advance to a June 16 runoff.

For Kemp, Tuesday’s primary will offer a major test of his political influence with Republican voters in Georgia.

“Our best opportunity to beat Jon Ossoff is to have a true political outsider that can grow the party, be bringing people to our side in November,” Kemp said in a joint interview with Dooley at a sporting goods store in Douglassville.

Asked whether he feels like his name is on the ballot given his heavy involvement in the race, Kemp said, “A little bit.”

Investing time and money

Kemp and his wife, Marty Kemp, have campaigned with Dooley across the state for months, including in the population-rich Atlanta metro area in the final days of early voting.

Kemp’s PAC, Hardworking Americans Inc., reserved a million dollars in advertising to bolster Dooley in the final stretch of the primary, according to data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, including a spot featuring the governor personally asking voters to “send Derek Dooley to the US Senate.”

Kemp’s popularity with Republicans in the state has endured throughout his two terms as governor. In 2022, he easily defeated a primary challenge against a candidate backed by President Donald Trump, who lashed out at Kemp for refusing to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state. The governor has an 85% approval rating among likely GOP primary voters, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll conducted last month.

It’s unclear whether Kemp’s goodwill among Republicans can translate into support for his preferred candidate.

A recent AJC survey found Collins at the top of the primary pack with 22% as Carter and Dooley battled for second place at 13% and 11%, respectively. At the same time, more than half of likely Republican primary voters — 54% — were undecided, leaving a sizable chunk of voters up for grabs in a critical stretch.

Several Republican voters told CNN they felt the Senate race has flown under the radar compared with the expensive GOP showdown for governor, which has dominated the television airwaves in recent weeks. The GOP primary in the race to replace Kemp has seen nearly $124 million spent on TV and digital advertising, while just over $21 million has been spent by Republicans in the Senate primary, according to an analysis of AdImpact data.

Republicans in the state believe it’s unlikely any candidate will clear the 50% threshold in the Senate primary Tuesday, extending the GOP fight for another month and draining resources that could be used for the fall campaign.

The unsettled Senate primary on the Republican side comes as Democrats have grown more bullish about their chances to win control of the chamber in November. Ossoff, who along with Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock was first elected in a 2021 runoff, is the lone Democratic senator running for reelection in a state Trump won in 2024.

While Republicans have been locked in their primary fight, Ossoff has plowed ahead in general election mode, amassing the largest financial stockpile of any Democrat running for Senate this year.

“Obviously, you’d rather have a clear field and have spent the last nine months prosecuting Ossoff on his record, which there’s so much to communicate to voters on that, but you know this is the situation we’re in,” Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said. “I think all of our candidates are well equipped to make that case once we have a nominee.”

Kemp is the most prominent political figure to wade into the GOP primary. Trump so far has refrained from endorsing in the race despite appeals from the candidates and their allies — similar to his stance of neutrality in the Texas GOP Senate runoff set for this month.

“It’s not always bad to have a good old primary fight,” Kemp told CNN. “It helps your candidate be better prepared for the general election.”

But some Republicans have expressed frustration with Kemp’s decision to strike out on his own and endorse Dooley. Collins’ campaign issued a memo in March claiming he was leading the field despite “interference from an incumbent governor.”

“If you’re gonna be involved in the Senate races, you should probably just run yourself,” said one national GOP strategist tracking the Georgia contest.

Kemp said it was “not the right time” for him and his family to make another run for office, adding his focus was finding “the right candidate in the US Senate race” and making “sure that our whole ticket wins in November.”

“I feel very good about that,” Kemp added. “I know the polling and the prognosticators don’t think so, but I feel really good about our chances as long as we have the right candidate at the top of ticket.”

The coach vs. the lawmakers

On the campaign trail, Kemp often talks up his close relationship with the Dooley family, including Derek’s late father Vince Dooley, a legendary football coach at the University of Georgia.

Derek Dooley, who has no political experience and did not vote in the 2016 or 2020 elections, has cast himself as a political outsider running against a broken Washington. He’s staked much of his candidacy on a five-point “Georgia First” contract, which includes a pledge to serve only two terms and to not trade individual stock or digital assets while in office. Dooley also has made the case his opponents have long congressional records that can be used against them in a general election.

“I think people are ready for something different, somebody that came from more of an outcome-oriented profession, like I did in coaching, somebody that’s worked with people from all walks of life, and I think that’ll resonate across the state a lot better than the two opponents that I’m running against,” Dooley told CNN.

Asked whether he considers himself more of a Trump or Kemp Republican, Dooley said, “I’m not into all these labels.”

“The leadership that Gov. Kemp and President Trump has shown has been inspirational to me in a lot of ways,” he said. “I’m proud of the party that I’m in right now, but I also have my own leadership style, and that’s what I’m selling.”

Meanwhile, Collins, who owns a trucking business, and Carter, a pharmacist, have more forcefully touted their MAGA credentials. Both congressmen have run TV ads featuring the president’s praise for them. Carter has dubbed himself a “MAGA warrior,” while Collins has touted his work to promote an “America First agenda.”

The two congressmen openly clashed on the debate stage last month. Carter warned Collins, who is facing a House Ethics Committee review over allegations his congressional office misused taxpayer funds, could cost the GOP the Senate seat in November.

“If you’re our candidate, we lose,” said Carter, who has run attack ads on the investigation. “Democrats will eat that up and we will lose again.”

“This is a total nothing burger. It’s an anonymous complaint that anyone can file,” Collins said.

Voters weigh the Kemp factor

For some Republican voters, Kemp’s endorsement holds significant sway.

“I really, really, really like my governor. I have a lot of respect for him, and once he planted that seed in my head that he was for Dooley, Derek Dooley, I started doing more research,” said Jacquolyn Holcombe, a Republican voter from Alpharetta. “I just felt like Dooley was the best man.”

But others aren’t as convinced. Randy Picard, a Republican from Alpharetta, said he ruled out voting Dooley because he’s disappointed Kemp didn’t follow other Republican states and pursue redistricting before the midterm elections. Instead, Kemp has called a June special session to redraw congressional maps for 2028.

“As a Georgian, I feel he’s letting us down because he’s not approving the redistricting,” said Picard, who is leaning toward Collins. “That irritates me and it irritates a lot of Republicans in the state of Georgia.”

“I believe he’s promoting Dooley and that’s great, but I’m not going to,” he added.

The move comes as the term-limited Kemp is entering the final stretch of his eight years as governor, raising questions about his political future.

Asked whether he sees room for his style of Republican politics in the 2028 presidential contest, Kemp insisted he’s focused on the current race for Senate.

“I am not focused on 2028. The best thing we can do as Republicans is make sure that we win in 2026, hold the majorities in the House and the Senate,” Kemp said, adding that supporting Dooley will “help us hold the majority in the Senate if we can beat Jon Ossoff, and that’s all really any Republican needs to be thinking about right now.”

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