GOP loses best chance to take down Georgia Democrat
After weeks of Republican hand-wringing over who might take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia, the party just lost its best shot.
On Monday, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he won’t be running for the seat in 2026, dealing a major blow to GOP operatives who were hoping he could flip one of the most vulnerable Democratic-held seats.
“I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family,” Kemp wrote on X.
He added that he spoke with President Donald Trump and Senate leadership and pledged to help elect a “strong Republican nominee” who would “put hardworking Georgians first.”
“I am confident we will be united in that important effort, and I look forward to electing the next generation of leaders up and down the ballot here in the Peach State who will keep our state and nation headed in the right direction in 2026 and beyond,” Kemp wrote.
That’s a nice sentiment, but the loss is real. And in Georgia, the reaction was swift.
“Not necessarily the news we wanted to hear,” former Cobb County GOP Chair Jason Shepherd told Politico, summing up Republicans’ disappointment.
Kemp was by far the GOP’s strongest potential contender and the clearest threat to Ossoff, who has built a fundraising juggernaut. The Democratic incumbent raked in $11 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone, a staggering sum that his team says is the largest ever first-quarter haul for an incumbent senator during an off year.
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But Kemp wouldn’t just have had to contend with Ossoff’s war chest. Running statewide as a Republican in 2026 will be tough. Trump’s approval ratings are dragging, and his policy agenda is already shaping up to be a political liability in key battlegrounds like Georgia. Kemp likely saw that and wisely bowed out, leaving someone else to take the hit.
This isn’t just a loss; it’s a warning sign. Even in a cycle where the Senate map should tilt toward the GOP, Georgia is far from a gimme. Despite both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Tim Scott personally trying to recruit Kemp, he still turned it down.
Ossoff isn’t guaranteed to win reelection, but the GOP now faces a familiar dilemma: finding a candidate who can survive a MAGA-fueled primary and still win a general election.
Kemp’s decision could trigger a crowded and messy primary. Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hasn’t ruled out a run, though early polling suggests that she’d struggle statewide. But that hasn’t stopped her from stoking speculation.
“I have a lot of options open,” she told NBC News last week, though she was vague on whether she’s actively making calls or just basking in the buzz.
Other names are floating around, including Reps. Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Rich McCormick, but none of them have Kemp’s statewide profile and infrastructure.
Georgia is a top GOP target in 2026, as one of just two Senate seats Democrats are defending in states that Trump won in 2024. But Kemp’s decision speaks volumes. He didn’t want to run in a midterm year where Republicans will have to answer for Trump’s chaos—and probably kiss the ring.
That was never going to be a good fit. In 2024, Trump publicly called Kemp “Little Brian Kemp” and slammed his wife for not backing his reelection. Kemp fired back, telling Trump to “leave my family out of it.” Things may have since thawed, but no one expects Kemp to grovel for Trump’s approval.
Which means that Kemp’s out. Ossoff is loaded. And Republicans are back to square one.