A month after the November election, a series of major developments has shaken up Georgia’s political landscape as Donald Trump prepares his return to the White House.
The president-elect’s announcement Wednesday that he will nominate former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler to his Cabinet was his second appointment that will have broad implications for Georgia’s 2026 races.
Attorney General Chris Carr wasted no time in formally launching his campaign to succeed a term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp, with a mid-November rollout that marked one of the earliest kickoffs of a gubernatorial bid in modern Georgia history.
Kemp was elected the next chair of the Republican Governors Association days after Trump’s win, assuring that his influence in GOP politics grows as he enters his final years in Georgia’s top job and weighs a bid for U.S. Senate.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff began preparing for a tough reelection bid by leading a behind-the-scenes press to oust U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia as he navigates pushback from his votes to limit arms sales to Israel.
And former U.S. Sen. David Perdue was selected Thursday as Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to China, one of the most consequential diplomatic posts. The U.S. and China boast the world’s largest economies and most powerful militaries, and Trump has promised a more confrontational approach to its rival.
That’s all before Trump takes office in January, Kemp unveils his agenda for the end of his second term and lawmakers revive a yearslong fight over transgender sports and a decades-long effort to curb costly lawsuits.
The back-to-back Trump appointments of Loeffler and former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins — rivals in the 2020 special election for an open Senate seat — will give each a role in Trump’s inner circle if confirmed by the Senate.
Collins is set to oversee the Veterans Affairs department while Loeffler is poised to lead the Small Business Administration, providing each with broader national platforms and seats at the table in Trump’s Cabinet.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
It also means the two Georgians are unlikely to compete for state or federal office during midterm elections, when Kemp’s job will be up for grabs and Ossoff could be the top Republican target in the U.S. Senate.
That clarifies — a bit — a race for governor that is already well underway two years before the vote. By entering the race this early, Carr hopes to lock up support from activists and build a bank account to compete against wealthier rivals.
Chief among those potential rivals is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is expected to run for governor but told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he won’t announce his plans until after the legislative session ends early next year.
The scion of a sprawling petroleum and insurance conglomerate, Jones can tap his family wealth to self-finance his campaign — and his close ties to Trump to woo conservative primary voters.
Carr, a former economic development commissioner and protege of the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, is pushing to make the most of his jump on the race. Neil Bitting, Carr’s campaign manager, said the mission is to build on the Republican’s network and “organize and capitalize” across Georgia.
“Chris is aggressively reaching out to friends and future friends all over Georgia to organize the grassroots and raise the seed capital necessary to share his vision for creating jobs, fighting crime and defending Georgia values,” he said.
While potential Democratic contenders for governor have so far refrained from telegraphing their next steps, Ossoff has stepped up his preparations for an all-out fight to keep his U.S. Senate seat.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Ossoff told the AJC his campaign is working to build “the most effective, the most massive and the best-resourced effort” to mobilize the Black, suburban and independent voters that sealed his 2021 runoff victory.
“This will be the biggest and most effective turnout effort in the history of Georgia politics,” he said.
In a glimpse of the headwinds ahead, the Democrat’s votes supporting a pair of failed resolutions to limit sales of lethal artillery shells and tank ammunition to Israel divided key Democrats — and led the Republican Jewish Coalition to declare him its top target in 2026.
He has also taken swift action to exert more control over the Democratic Party in Georgia, since he’s the only statewide incumbent for his party on the ballot in two years.
He helped orchestrate a push to oust Williams as party chair amid growing concerns from donors, activists and officials that she can’t effectively carry out that role while simultaneously representing an Atlanta-based district in the U.S. House.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
While that internal fight has ruffled feathers within the party, some former Williams allies have also urged her to resign — and key activists are working to change the bylaws to smooth a path for her to step down.
DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry, who once served as the party’s first vice chair under Williams, said many insiders envision a “full-time chair who is in essence the leader of the party” as spokesperson, campaign manager and fundraiser.
“It takes time to do that work, and running a two-year, year-round campaign is a lot of time.”
Leaders of both parties are also grappling with the unpredictability of the incoming Trump administration and taking far different lessons from the former president’s triumph in Georgia.
Senior Republican lawmakers say the victory — along with an enduring GOP majority in the House and a new majority in the Senate — gives them a mandate to cut taxes, limit spending and seek other methods to provide economic relief to struggling Georgians.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“Republicans have listened to our voters and our constituents,” Senate GOP Leader Steve Gooch said. “And what’s most important to them right now is inflation, jobs and the cost of groceries.”
Gooch and other Republican leaders have made clear, too, they see a measure restricting transgender girls from competing in women’s school sports as part of that message from voters — something House Speaker Jon Burns this week pledged to prioritize next year.
Jason Carter, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, said November was a sobering reminder of the fragility of his party’s coalition. But he noted that two years ago, voters rendered a split verdict by electing Kemp and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat.
Like other Democrats, he anticipates voters could be exhausted by Trump-driven drama by 2026, which will mark the president-elect’s 10th year at the pinnacle of GOP politics. But he cautioned that Trump alone won’t help Democrats build a winning electoral alliance.
“Democrats need to start listening better,” he said. “For the last 15 years, if you ask the power structure of the Democratic Party, I don’t think they wanted to earn the votes of rural white voters. And you’ve got to say, we’re not giving up on them.”
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