Latest news with #GeorgiaSenate
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. John F. Kennedy of Macon announces bid for Georgia lieutenant governor
Georgia Sen. John F. Kennedy, a Republican from Macon, formally announced Monday that he is running for lieutenant governor, according to a social media post. Kennedy has served as the pro tempore in the Georgia Senate since 2023, which sits just a notch beneath the lieutenant governor in the state government. He was first elected to the Georgia Senate in 2014. Kennedy is just one of a slew of Republican candidates who have made preparations for a run or announced campaigns to succeed Lt. Gov. Butch Jones. Sen. Steve Gooch, a Republican from Dahlonega, announced he would be running for the seat in May. Takosha Swan, a member of the state veterans services board who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019, also announced a bid. Sen. Blake Tillery of Vidalia has started raising money for the Republican primary, as has Jerry Timbs II, a local politician from Henry County who previously ran for a commission seat there. Neither have officially announced a campaign but are expected to soon, according to the Georgia Recorder. On the Democratic side, Georgia Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs) has announced a campaign for the seat. In his post, Kennedy emphasized his support for school choice, job creation and fighting crime. He also touted his work to pass a law limiting lawsuits and civil verdicts in Georgia. 'My first priority has been to put hardworking Georgians first, and that's what I will continue to do as Georgia's next Lieutenant Governor,' Kennedy said in the post.
Washington Post
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King enters 2026 Republican race for US Senate
ATLANTA — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King on Monday became the second major Republican to enter the 2026 race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff, saying 'President Trump needs reinforcements and Georgia needs a new senator.' King jumped in after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday that she would not seek the Republican nomination for Senate, and a week after King's political patron, Gov. Brian Kemp, made the same decision.
Associated Press
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King enters 2026 Republican race for US Senate
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King on Monday became the second major Republican to enter the 2026 race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff, saying 'President Trump needs reinforcements and Georgia needs a new senator.' King jumped in after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday that she would not seek the Republican nomination for Senate, and a week after King's political patron, Gov. Brian Kemp, made the same decision. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Republican who represents a coastal Georgia district, announced his campaign for the Senate after Kemp announced he wasn't running. Five other GOP officeholders have acknowledged interest to The Associated Press, signaling what could be a wide-open Republican contest. They include two other Republicans in Congress, Mike Collins and Rich McCormick. Also considering the race are Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and state Sen. Greg Dolezal. King, 61, emphasized his biography in his announcement, including being born in Mexico, his rise to major general in the Georgia National Guard and his work in law enforcement as an Atlanta police officer and Doraville police chief. 'I've never shied away from a fight, but what truly scares me today is having Jon Ossoff for six more years. President Trump got sent to Washington, D.C., to solve some very big problems,' King said in an announcement video. 'He needs help and I'm asking for your support to go help President Trump and solve these incredibly big problems.' King said Monday that he had been stabbed and shot while serving as an Atlanta police officer. He also was a member of the Atlanta Police Department's Red Dog unit, an anti-crime task force that drew widespread criticism for its aggressive tactics. It was King's experience in the National Guard that brought him to Kemp's attention. King had never held elective office and had lost out on his application to be Kemp's National Guard chief when Kemp was faced with filling a vacancy in the insurance commissioner's office after Jim Beck was indicted on federal criminal charges and suspended in 2019. Kemp chose King, saying he would 'restore trust' in the office after not only Beck but also his predecessor John Oxendine faced criminal charges. King held the post on an interim basis for years, and Kemp appointed him permanently after Beck was convicted in 2022. Later that year, King became the first Hispanic person to be elected to a statewide post in Georgia. Kemp has made a number of appointments to diversify what has traditionally been an overwhelmingly white and male group of Republican officeholders. Fluent in Spanish, King often delivered messages on behalf of Kemp in that language during the pandemic, and released announcement videos Monday in both English and Spanish. King was also a key messenger during Kemp's successful push to limit civil lawsuit verdicts and has become a frequent speaker at political events the last two years. But King, like a number of other Senate hopefuls, remains little-known by the broader electorate. He also needs to prove that he can raise the large amounts of money needed for a Senate campaign. He raised $1 million during his 2022 reelection campaign, enough for a low-profile statewide office but not for a competitive Republican primary. Overall, the 2026 Senate race is likely to cost hundreds of millions. Ossoff raised more than $11 million just in the first three months of 2025.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Tramples on MTG's Dreams of a Senate Run
President Donald Trump doesn't think his MAGA cheerleader Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has what it takes to win the Georgia Senate seat she's eyeing. The Georgia Congresswoman, who is weighing a run for Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff's seat in 2026, declared on NewsNation Tuesday that she would triumph in the Republican primary. But Trump—who carried Georgia by just over 2 points in the 2024 presidential election—appears to have doubts about her prospects in the swing state. 'The president loves MTG. He doesn't love her chances in a general,' a Trump adviser told Axios. Polling suggests Greene would get trounced by Ossoff in a hypothetical matchup, trailing him by 11 points in a recent Trafalgar Group survey—though she would indeed pull ahead of other Republican contenders in a primary. Greene's brand of supercharged Trumpism, filled with viral antics and inflammatory statements, may resonate with the GOP's MAGA base, but in a general election, Georgia voters remain skeptical. 'It's possible that Greene could win a Republican primary,' Republican consultant Mark Rountree told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'But it's unlikely she could win a general election, and conservatives would once again have blown an opportunity to defeat Democrats in Georgia.' Internal GOP polls haven't been kind to Greene, with one person who saw the numbers telling Axios she got 'smoked.' She may still opt to run for governor—Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp cannot seek a third term in 2026—and she's expressed equal confidence in her chances in that race. The Republican primary for the Senate seat is wide open after Kemp, who drew Trump's ire in 2020 by refusing to overturn the presidential election results and was seen as a frontrunner in the election, declined Monday to challenge Ossoff in 2026. Kemp is expected to head to D.C. in the coming weeks to discuss with Trump which Republican candidate to back, Axios said. The president is eager to expand the GOP's three-seat advantage in the Senate. 'The president, like the governor, wants someone who can win,' the Trump adviser reportedly said. Republican Rep. Buddy Carter on Thursday became the first contender to announce his bid, but according to Axios, he's not the candidate Trump and Kemp are looking for. Kelly Loeffler, whom Trump appointed to lead the Small Business Administration in February, is another name being considered. She previously served as Georgia senator in 2020 until she was unseated by Democrat Raphael Warnock in a special election. In 2022, Warnock defeated former NFL player Herschel Walker to win a full six-year term as a Georgia Senator. Other potential GOP candidates for Ossoff's seat include Rep. Mike Collins—who sponsored the much-touted Laken Riley Act as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, Rep. Brian Jack (previously a longtime Trump advisor), and Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.
The Independent
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Republicans fear Marjorie Taylor Greene could win the Georgia primaries – then cost them the whole race
Republican senators are concerned about the prospect of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene running in the state's GOP senate primary ahead of next year's race against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Greene has said she's considering running for Senate or governor next year, sharing her confidence that she would win a primary. This comes as Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp has announced that he won't challenge Ossoff. Republican senators note that she would have a good chance of winning the GOP nomination because of her strong support among Trump voters and national profile. However, there are concerns among some that Greene may very well win the primary but lose the general election against Ossoff, much like former NFL player Herschel Walker, who won the Republican nomination for Georgia's other U.S. Senate seat in 2022 but lost the general election to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer was asked if Greene would be a strong candidate for the general election. 'We need to have the absolute best candidate, and that includes electability. It's very difficult to apply a formula for a very gerrymandered, very conservative congressional district into a statewide election with as much diversity as Georgia has,' he said, according to The Hill. 'That is a swing state that's pretty independent-minded,' Cramer added. 'If I was to put my political science hat on and look at all the criteria, she wouldn't be high on my list of recruits.' In 2021, Cramer wrote in Newsweek about some of the 'crazier' things Greene has said and theories she has supported, such as the notion that the 9/11 terror attacks against New York and Washington were an inside job, or that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida in 2018 was a false flag operation. He also brought up her 2018 suggestion that a fatal wildfire in California was caused by space lasers, and that it may have been a part of a plan by wealthy financiers to make space for a new high-speed train line. Greene subsequently deleted that Facebook post. 'I think she's recanted some of the crazier things she's said,' said Cramer. However, he emphasized that 'electability is one of the more important criteria in recruiting a candidate.' 'Sometimes we let ideology be more important, and that's a mistake,' the senator said. North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis is up for re-election next year. He also noted that Greene may win the Republican nomination but could be a weaker general election candidate, adding that being able to appeal to independents and moderates in the suburbs remains vital. 'I think she'd be a solid primary contender, but the state's a lot like North Carolina. It could be a challenge at the statewide level,' said Tillis, according to The Hill. Greene told NewsNation, 'The polling shows I can win the governor's primary or I can win the Senate primary. That's a choice that I can make, and I'll give it some thought.' 'I'm sorry that Brian Kemp's not running,' Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said, according to The Hill. He added that he wants a candidate 'that can win. I don't know whether she qualifies or not.' A spokesperson for Greene told The Hill that 'Polling shows Congresswoman Greene would blow out a primary. She has the same type of support President Trump has, and now he's president.'
