Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s bid for governor came to a crashing halt Tuesday night after the longtime Republican failed to advance out of a crowded GOP primary dominated by candidates aligned with President Donald Trump.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson secured the top two spots in the Republican primary and advanced to a June 16 runoff after neither candidate crossed the 50% threshold required under Georgia law. Attorney General Chris Carr and Raffensperger were both eliminated from the race.
The defeat is another major political blow for Brad Raffensperger, who became one of Trump’s most prominent Republican critics after refusing efforts to challenge Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
That feud never fully faded inside GOP circles.
Trump endorsed Jones in the race and made clear in recent days that he viewed the lieutenant governor as his preferred candidate to carry the MAGA banner into November. Jones campaigned heavily on his support for Trump and the America First movement, arguing that his rivals had opposed the president’s agenda.
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Jackson, meanwhile, emerged as the surprise candidate in the race after spending nearly $50 million of his own money on a massive statewide advertising blitz. The healthcare billionaire pitched himself as a conservative outsider who could shake up state government and stop Democrats from reclaiming the governor’s mansion.
The Georgia governor’s race is one of the most closely watched contests of the 2026 midterm cycle as Republicans look to replace term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp.
Raffensperger had attempted to reintroduce himself to GOP voters as a conservative reform-minded candidate focused on election security, economic growth, and government accountability. But many Republican voters never forgave his split with Trump following the 2020 election battle.
Despite surviving a Republican primary challenge for secretary of state in 2022 and winning reelection later that year, Raffensperger struggled to gain traction in a gubernatorial field dominated by Trump loyalists and well-funded rivals.
On the Democratic side, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms easily won her party’s primary and will face either Jones or Jackson in the general election this fall.
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