Trump, Kemp and Cruz make competing endorsements in Georgia runoff races ahead of Election Day
Last-minute endorsements from President Trump, Gov. Brian Kemp, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas are upending Georgia's high-stakes Republican primary runoff races, putting contests for U.S. Senate and governor in the national spotlight hours before voters head to the polls on Tuesday.
In a surprise move on Sunday, Mr. Trump endorsed Rep. Mike Collins in the Republican primary runoff to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Mr. Trump, who had previously stayed neutral in the contest, praised Collins in a post on Truth Social, writing: "Mike is strongly supported by the most highly respected MAGA patriots in Georgia and beyond, and many Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate — he is a warrior and winner!"
The endorsement immediately heightened an already high-profile Republican divide in Georgia, where the two major candidates now stand apart: Kemp backs former college football coach Derek Dooley, while his opponent is now supported by a rival endorsement from Mr. Trump.
Speaking Monday at a donor event in Chamblee, Kemp acknowledged the disagreement with Mr. Trump while defending his backing of Dooley.
"I was very clear with the president of why I thought we needed a political outsider in this race," Kemp said. "And the best political outsider was Derek Dooley to beat Jon Ossoff. Obviously, he disagreed with that. And the voters are going to weigh in tomorrow to settle that score."
Building on his reasoning, Kemp argues that Republican outsiders have historically performed best against Democratic incumbents.
"If you just take personalities out of the equation for this runoff election, and you look at Republicans [who] have been successful beating Democratic incumbents around the country, it has been political outsiders that have had the most success doing that," Kemp said.
Meanwhile, Dooley has attempted to position himself as a unifying candidate, in contrast to rivals who appeal mainly to their party's base, aiming to attract a broad coalition of Georgia voters.
"If we're going to beat this guy, we have got to have a candidate that not only can bring in a wide diverse group of Georgia voters from all over the state," Dooley said during a recent campaign stop.
The former University of Tennessee football coach has also focused his campaign messaging on frustration with Washington gridlock.
"The thing that's driving every Georgian nuts … it's the inaction," Dooley said. "Nothing's happening. We all see it. A lot of yelling and screaming. Nobody working together to deliver results."
The wave of endorsements continued beyond the Senate race.
Kemp also formally endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in Georgia's gubernatorial runoff against Republican healthcare executive Rick Jackson, calling Jones a trusted ally for Georgia conservatives.
At the same time, Jackson secured his own late-campaign endorsement from Cruz, who appeared with him Monday in Alpharetta.
"Rick looked at what's happening in Georgia," Cruz told supporters. "And he said we could lose our state. We could lose who we are. We could lose what makes Georgia great."
The governor's race has become one of the most expensive contests in state history, with the two candidates spending nearly $160 million combined so far, much of it self-funded, in the battle for the Governor's Mansion.
Altogether, these competing endorsements underscore a broader test inside Georgia's Republican Party: how influential Mr. Trump and Kemp remain with GOP primary voters when backing opposing candidates.
So far, Trump-aligned candidates have generally performed well in Georgia Republican primaries.
Kemp, however, says his focus remains squarely on defeating Ossoff in November.
"People have asked me, like, why are you doing this?" Kemp said. "Why are you and the first lady getting up early and getting home late when you're not even on the ballot? … There's one reason: I want to win our U.S. Senate seat back."
