Politics

We’re about to find out how powerful Brian Kemp really is with Georgia Republicans

Published

3 months ago

June 16, 2026

Brian Kemp’s political strength was already going to be tested in Tuesday’s Georgia runoffs. Then President Donald Trump made his move.

Kemp had spent months throwing his full support and political network behind Derek Dooley, a political neophyte and former football coach, in a quest to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff — a seat Kemp himself passed on running for, to the disappointment of national Republicans who saw him as the best candidate to win.

It was a major political gambit, and one that relies on the governor’s popularity and ability to get Dooley over the finish line against a MAGA loyalist in Rep. Mike Collins and then against a strong Democratic incumbent. Early Sunday morning, Trump raised the stakes: He finally got off the sidelines and endorsed Collins, turning the Senate runoff into something of a proxy war between two of the most influential figures in Georgia politics.

Hours later, Kemp stepped into the other marquee contest in the state, endorsing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — the Trump-backed Republican — to succeed him in the governor’s mansion.

Now, thanks to the late slate of endorsements, the governor finds himself both at odds with an increasingly influential president in the Senate race and aligned with him in the governor’s race — teeing up a complicated trial of his influence.

Tuesday’s runoff will determine the viability of Kemp’s brand of Republican politics, one willing to look beyond the conservative red meat of a MAGA Republican primary with an eye toward winning back independent and swing voters in the general election. Even when that means he’s at odds with Trump’s wishes.

The governor’s race is complicated further by billionaire Rick Jackson’s flood of spending, which quickly transformed him from a little-known candidate to one of the contest’s two leading contenders.

“Both [Jones and Dooley] face opponents with strong outside support or appeal, so the results will show how much pull Kemp still has in the Georgia GOP,” said one Georgia Republican unaffiliated with either race granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Demonstrating [his] pull will be key to any Kemp case for 2028, which would necessarily include proving he takes Georgia off the table for us as a battleground state.”

In a sign of his clout in the state, the candidates — with the exception of Collins — all featured the popular governor in campaign runoff ads, drawing him into the mix even before he officially endorsed.

“Everything I’m doing is to make sure we win in November. I’ve been very clear about that,” Kemp said at a Monday morning press conference with Dooley. “Making sure that we have the right people at the top of the ticket who can win.”

Republicans wanted Kemp to run. Instead, he put his political capital behind Dooley.

Tuesday’s runoffs come at a pivotal moment in which Kemp has largely sidestepped questions about his future, but is seen both in Georgia and nationally as a potential 2028 presidential contender as the Republican Party makes its first steps into a post-Trump future. Kemp’s approval rating hovers around 60 percent — roughly 20 points higher than Trump’s in a rapidly evolving battleground.

Many Georgia Republicans had hoped that Kemp, a popular figure, would run for the Senate seat himself — a nod to his unique strength in a finicky state, where candidates have to win with a broad coalition of voters to succeed in statewide races like he did during his reelection in 2022.

“If Kemp had jumped into this race, it would already be a seat that Republicans were counting as a flip,” said Ryan Mahoney, a Georgia-based Republican strategist and former aide to Kemp.

Instead, Republicans got a crowded field and a primary marked by bitter intraparty fighting as Ossoff kept his powder dry and amassed a significant war chest ahead of a competitive general election. The GOP’s original bullishness on flipping the blue seat turned into frustration and a feeling that Ossoff was proving more and more difficult to vanquish.

Before Trump’s last minute foray into the race, the Republican Senate contest had been marked by Kemp’s hands-on presence for Dooley, who the governor has repeatedly touted as an electable political outsider who could build the big-tent coalition needed to win. Kemp appeared at dozens of campaign stops across the state and activated his deep network of donors for his longtime friend and hand-picked candidate.

Dooley was still polling in a consistent third place for the majority of the primary — but Kemp continued to appear with him across the state, and Hardworking Americans Inc., a Kemp-aligned federal PAC, went on to spend $2 million on ads, including one featuring the governor giving a straight-to-camera pitch for Dooley. The candidate ended up finishing in a solid second place, besting Rep. Buddy Carter to make the runoff — a significant win for Kemp’s political machine.

And while Collins dominated in rural areas of the state, and Carter in his southwestern congressional district around Savannah, Dooley’s base of support emerged from the all-important metro Atlanta area.

“Dooley clearly had momentum, and that momentum showed up at the ballot box,” Mahoney said. “That momentum was fueled by Brian Kemp, and, more specifically, Brian Kemp to camera pushing people to vote for Derek.”

But there are looming questions over Kemp’s ability to pull Dooley across the finish line in the second round of voting.

Collins had already secured support from several MAGA-aligned groups before Trump left his mark on the contest, including the powerful Club for Growth and Turning Point Action.

Trump’s endorsement put the final stamp on that dynamic of MAGA vs. Kemp, solidifying the House Republican as the carrier of the populist right’s mantle in the race and putting the president in direct opposition to the governor.

“Mike is a special guy, a special congressman, a special person, and so I’d like to have everybody go out and get out and vote for this man. We love Georgia,” Trump said in a tele-rally with Collins late on Monday afternoon from France ahead of his appearance at the G7. “Mike is so important.”

But Trump’s late support for Collins comes with its own warning signs, harkening back to an embarrassing loss from earlier this month, when Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) came up short in his run for governor after winning the president’s support just a handful of days prior.

Early voting had already closed by the time Trump endorsed Collins on Sunday, creating a narrow window for him to capitalize on the president’s coveted backing.

Trump and Kemp align in governor’s race — against an influx of cash

While the Senate contest pits the president against Kemp, the two will also be tested in the vastly different race for governor.

That contest will show whether the two leaders’ combined influence can outmatch the power of over $100 million in spending from Jackson, whose deluge of cash has upended the contest since his splashy entrance in February.

Kemp had loomed large over the contest, as both candidates tried to tie themselves to the popular governor. Shortly after the May primary, Jackson aired an ad that appeared to imply he had won the governor’s support. That ad backfired, contributing to Kemp’s decision on Sunday to back Jones, according to a person familiar with the governor’s thinking and granted anonymity to speak candidly about the endorsement.

A spokesperson for Kemp referred Blue Light News to the governor’s press conference with Jones, during which he said lieutenant governor was the only pick “to make sure that Georgia remains the best place to live, work, and raise a family.” Jones had “been a trusted ally in that effort, being there every step of the way,” Kemp said.

Kemp’s decision to weigh in on the race came together in fairly quick succession. The lieutenant governor’s team was told around lunchtime on Sunday that Kemp was preparing to endorse Jones, according to a person familiar with the conversation between the two camps, granted anonymity to discuss campaign matters. Kemp’s backing was made public later that afternoon in a lengthy statement posted to social media.

Jones had already secured the president’s support almost as soon as he got into the race and has long touted his close relationship with the president. But it was Kemp’s backing that he said could cement his runoff win and propel him into the general election.

“I can’t say enough about how appreciative [Georgia Second Lady Jan Jones] and I are for this endorsement from the governor and the first lady. We think that this is exactly what’s going to put us over the top,” Jones said in a press conference Monday alongside the governor.

The candidate also released an ad on Monday featuring the governor and first lady Marty Kemp praising him as a “strong ally” and highlighting their partnership over the last several years.

“The real endorsement is tomorrow. It’s with the people of this state. And they’re going to decide who they want at the top of the ticket,” Kemp said at his morning appearance with Dooley.

Politics

Stephen A. Smith on Trump, Democrats and the politics of chaos

Published

2 hours ago

September 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Stephen A. Smith on Trump, Democrats and the politics of chaos

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Politics

Elon Musk unleashes first wave of spending on key races in the midterms

Published

3 hours ago

September 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Elon Musk’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 across key House and Senate races.

Musk’s America PAC targeted several key Senate contests, including races in Texas, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska.

The largest amount went to Texas — over $247,000 — where Republicans are expected to deploy a wave of party resources to bolster Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico.

Musk’s super PAC also put nearly $90,000 into eight House races:

Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin; Rep. Mike Lawler in New York; Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia; Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey; Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania; Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania; Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania; and Scott Singer in Florida.

The independent expenditures — Musk’s first of the general election — were disclosed days after he met with Speaker Mike Johnson in Texas last week.

Republicans already hold a significant fundraising advantage over Democrats, buoyed by President Donald Trump’s roughly $400 million in his MAGA Inc. super PAC. Trump is under growing pressure from Republicans to tap into that money as the midterms near. A major investment from Musk would further widen the GOP’s financial edge heading into November.

Musk has reportedly considered spending at least $100 million for the GOP through America PAC to help Republicans in this year’s midterms, but the full scope of that effort remains unclear.

A spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment.

Musk spent roughly $290 million to support Trump and the GOP during the 2024 cycle, predominantly through his super PAC, making him the largest individual donor to any political committee that cycle, before he took on a major role in the White House’s DOGE effort.

Politics

These mayors live along Lake America’s shores. But they won’t be calling it that.

Published

7 hours ago

September 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Robert Corradino has never lived anywhere but Oswego, New York. As the only commercial port city on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario, everything bears the lake’s name — the streets, the convention center, the historic fort.

And in his first term as mayor, Corradino — a Republican who said he previously voted for President Donald Trump — said he worries that a distant political feud is threatening to erase part of his city’s history.

In the days following Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, Corradino and other mayors in upstate New York said Trump’s decision is “regrettable” and could upset voters in the region — and even further impact an economy so closely tied to the U.S.’s relationship with Canada.

“The water is part of our identity,” Corradino said. “Not only our identity, but the economy and the history of the lake is tied to the city.”

Oswego, a city of 17,000, is split between Democrats and Republicans, Corradino said. However, the larger Oswego County is one of the reddest in the state and 61 percent of its voters went for Trump in the 2024 election.

Yet on Monday, several Oswego County legislators from both parties approved a resolution rejecting the new name, out of concern for the cost of the rebrand on taxpayers and businesses. The resolution said it does not intend to diminish the authority of the federal government, rather it aims to “recognize the longstanding historical and regional significance of the name Lake Ontario.”

Last Thursday night, at Oswego’s weekly summer concert series, Corradino said everyone he interacted with said they didn’t support the name change and they weren’t sure why it was happening. The general sentiment, he said, was frustration.

Asked about the issues Oswego residents actually care about, Corradino said his constituents are concerned about less immigration enforcement and the war with Iran.

“In general the consensus I see is it just seems like the country is heading in a direction that we’re not all happy about,” Corradino said.

The pushback is not isolated to Oswego. Hours after Trump signed the executive order, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who runs the only state that borders Lake Ontario, said in a post to social media, “New York won’t be calling it that.”

And there’s been mixed adaptation nationally — similar to when Trump dictated that the Gulf of Mexico now go by Gulf of America.

Signs mark the entrance to the Lake Ontario State Parkway on Aug. 25, 2026, in Rochester, N.Y.

On Saturday, Google Maps, which uses the U.S. Geographic Names Information System that comes from official government sources, officially changed the name. Map users on the American side will see “Lake America” while users in Canada will see “Lake Ontario.” For users outside of both the U.S. and Canada, they will see both names. Apple Maps followed suit, using the same naming approach as Google.

But MapQuest — the once-dominant mapping service of the 1990s and early 2000s — rocketed up app stores after refusing to use Lake America.

Long before the lake was renamed, Alex Morgia — a Democrat and mayor of Sackets Harbor, N.Y. — said his community has been grappling with the deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Canada.

Sackets Harbor, located along the eastern shores of Lake Ontario, is home to a number of Canadian residents. A village of 1,400 people, it was a major military outpost and naval command center during the War of 1812, when the U.S. clashed with British and Canadian forces.

Since 1971, the village has hosted the Can-Am festival to commemorate the village’s Canadian-American heritage.

The festival “reminds everyone that it’s not very nice to be at odds with your neighbor,” Morgia said. “Having good relationships with your international neighbors is important, particularly for people that live along the border on either side.”

Last year’s festival was the first time residents began making floats of maple leaves and Canadian flags to protest the Trump administration’s calls to make Canada the “51st state” and to remind Sackets Harbor residents that there were Canadian citizens among them, Morgia said.

This year, as Trump has continued to roll out tariffs against Canadian products, and relations with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continued to worsen, Morgia joked that the theme for this year’s parade should’ve been “we’re sorry.”

The overall atmosphere at this year’s parade in July was “somber,” Morgia said.

“I kind of hoped that the Canadian issue had gone by the wayside, but you know [Trump] seems to bring it up when he needs to,” Morgia said.

Sackets Harbor is split between Democrats and Republicans, Morgia said. Jefferson County, which encompasses Sackets Harbor, overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2024 election with 61 percent of its vote.

“It’s a three-hour drive to Montreal, a two-hour drive to Toronto and a six-hour drive to New York City,” Morgia said. “The biggest metropolitan cities near us are Canadian, and a lot of North Country businesses and people rely on the southern part of Canada. … I’m hopeful that voters will think about that at the polls in November and in 2028.”

In the village of Sodus Point, N.Y. — which is located along the southern border of the Great Lake — Republican Mayor Pat Nolan said he’s disappointed by the name-change as “Ontario” is rooted in the Indigenous history of the region.

The name Ontario, is largely believed to come from Iroquoian roots, meaning “beautiful lake” or “sparkling water,” according to the Canadian government. The Canadian province of Ontario, is named after the lake.

A village of 1,000 people, Sodus Point is located in Wayne County, where Trump received 61 percent of the vote in 2024. Nolan was elected in a write-in campaign last year.

“My hope is that, rather than allowing this decision to become another wedge that further divides people,” Nolan wrote in an email, “it can encourage a broader discussion about the history of this great body of water, the Indigenous people who first gave it its name and the generations of communities that have grown along its shores.”