Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican with deep ties to the mainstream wing of his party, announced Thursday that he will run for governor in 2026, setting up a potential showdown with other GOP rivals more closely aligned with Donald Trump.

Carr, 52, is the first prominent candidate from either major party to enter the wide-open race for governor and is seen as one of the strongest Republican hopefuls to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, who cannot run for a third term.

He won two statewide elections for attorney general after he was appointed to the post in 2016, and he previously served as Georgia’s economic development commissioner and as the top aide to former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.

But his Republican credentials were questioned following Trump’s narrow defeat in 2020, when Carr and other GOP incumbents came under fire by the then-president and his allies for rejecting calls to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.

Two years ago, Carr fended off a challenge by a Trump-backed attorney recruited by the former president, and then he defeated a Democratic rising star. Carr will now try to revive the same coalition in 2026 as a resurgent Trump readies to return to the White House.

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“When you have an open seat and a state as big as Georgia, you need to organize and capitalize as soon as possible,” Carr told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview, adding he plans to put in the “hard work” to build up his base of support.

“I’m the proven conservative. I don’t have to talk theoretically about what I might do or what I could do,” he said. “I can talk about what I’ve already done.”

But his swift announcement, hardly two weeks after the 2024 election, also underscores another challenge. Unlike several potential opponents, Carr can’t self-finance his campaign. Entering the race now means he can start raising cash for his bid.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a favorite of Trump’s MAGA movement, began laying the groundwork for a run years ago. But he’s not likely to announce until next year, in part because he can tap his family’s considerable wealth to kick-start his campaign.

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — two other wealthy Republicans — could join the fray, particularly if Kemp challenges Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. The race could also attract well-funded outsiders.

Democrats have their own up-in-the-air competition brewing. U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath and DeKalb County Chief Executive Michael Thurmond seem likely to run. And Stacey Abrams, who lost back-to-back races to Kemp, hasn’t ruled out a third bid.

‘An 18-month fight’

Carr’s bid for governor was an open secret. He began telling donors in 2023 that he would run for Georgia’s top job, and he bypassed a campaign for the U.S. Senate a year earlier partly to build a foundation to compete in the 2026 race.

He’s betting that he can follow the playbook used by Kemp, a close political ally, by uniting Trump loyalists, traditional Republicans and independents. While Kemp mostly focused on the GOP’s conservative base in 2018, the governor had to broaden his coalition in 2022 after Trump turned on him.

Like Kemp, Carr was among the Republicans that Trump accused of disloyalty and tried to oust from office after Biden’s narrow 2020 victory. Like Kemp, Carr easily defeated a Trump-backed rival in the 2022 primary.

And like Kemp, he reached a tenuous peace with Trump during the 2024 campaign. Carr endorsed the GOP nominee earlier this year and dug into his campaign funds to promote the former president’s comeback bid.

As he prepares for the 2026 race, Carr’s strategists mapped out a campaign that revolves not around Trump but around the economic and public safety issues that they wager will remain top priorities in two years.

Credit: David Barnes

For the former, Carr points to his travels across the globe working as then-Gov. Nathan Deal’s top business recruiter. For the latter, Carr cites tough crackdowns on gangs, sex trafficking and other violent crimes he initiated as attorney general.

Carr, a graduate of the Marist School and the University of Georgia who lives in Dunwoody, also advocates a consensus-building approach that seems incongruous with the no-holds-barred MAGA mantra.

At an Athens event this week honoring the bipartisan legacy of Isakson, Carr invoked his mentor’s belief that politicians “have to find common ground.”

“Elections are a game of addition. You’ve got to figure out a way to bring together issues and groups and coalitions,” Carr said during the interview, adding he has a “proven record” in previous elections of forging those alliances.

Carr’s early entrance tests the patience of a Georgia electorate still recovering from a grueling White House campaign that ended with Trump’s dominant victory. Jones’ camp said voters are ready for results, not another campaign.

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“Georgians just endured a long election where the lieutenant governor was proud to fight alongside President Trump — now it’s time to get to work,” said Loree Anne Paradise, Jones’ top aide. “Burt is focused on delivering conservative solutions to the issues the General Assembly will tackle during the upcoming legislative session.”

Kemp advisers also sent a signal after Carr’s announcement that it was too soon for candidates to start the 2026 cycle. Kemp was just elected to lead the Republican Governors Association on Wednesday, and GOP leaders are still regrouping after the election.

”The voters of our state and nation gave Republicans a mandate to govern just two weeks ago,” Kemp adviser Cody Hall said.

Others, however, say Carr was wise to jump in the race early to begin presenting his vision to Georgians. Jay Morgan, a well-connected lobbyist who once helmed the Georgia GOP, said Carr “definitely has a lane” as he predicted a long, bitter campaign.

“Everyone knows Burt and Chris could go to a runoff,” Morgan said. “So here we are, an 18-month fight to the finish.”

‘Hard work’

Carr has a long track record in Georgia politics. He was a top aide to Isakson before Deal selected him as the state’s economic development commissioner in 2013. (His wife, Joan Kirchner Carr, also later served as Isakson’s chief of staff.)

That job required him to forge ties with bipartisan leaders and corporate chieftains to cement deals. It also forced him to take political stands. During his stint, he backed Deal’s 2016 veto of “religious liberty” legislation amid threats of business boycotts.

When then-Attorney General Sam Olens resigned to become Kennesaw State University’s president in 2016, Deal picked Carr to fill the vacancy, one of the most significant appointments of his two terms in office.

Though Carr had served as a key strategist for Isakson, his 2018 campaign for a full term was his first taste of electoral politics as a candidate. He quickly scared off potential Republican challengers and won a close victory over Democrat Charlie Bailey.

He faced some of his biggest tests after the November 2020 election. He fended off a barrage of pro-Trump lawsuits seeking to overturn the outcome. He rebuffed Trump’s pressure to back a doomed lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to toss out Georgia’s election results. And he stepped down from a national GOP group after its policy arm urged supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Those stances helped earn him Trump’s wrath. In 2022, Carr quashed a Trump-endorsed GOP challenge from attorney John Gordon, whose campaign centered on lies that Trump captured Georgia. Carr then defeated Democrat Jen Jordan in November by a 5-point margin.

Credit: Maya Prabhu

But his supporters say Carr is no centrist. He has defended conservative policies in court and on the campaign trail, including permissive firearms stances, a work requirement for some poor Georgians to qualify for Medicaid and the state’s 2021 rewrite of election laws.

He quickly asked a federal appeals court to allow Georgia’s anti-abortion law to take effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and he is pressing the state’s top judges to preserve the restrictions.

Carr has backed laws that toughen anti-gang penalties and empower the state to sanction or oust local prosecutors. And he’s an outspoken supporter of the Atlanta public safety complex that has divided some liberals.

He has also joined with attorneys general in other Republican states to challenge Biden administration policies such as its student loan forgiveness programs and Title IX changes intended to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in schools.

One reason Carr is seeking to line up donors early is to build a solid financial foundation for a gubernatorial race that could shatter records set in 2022, when Kemp and Abrams combined to raise nearly $200 million.

Carr raised about $5 million for his 2022 reelection bid, the highest total ever for the down-ticket office. But in a race for governor he’ll need to rely on the well-heeled networks that helped Deal, Isakson and Kemp win to keep pace with his adversaries.

He also may have to counter the influence of Trump, who could endorse Jones or, if several of his loyalists enter the field, openly oppose Carr. Asked about that possibility, Carr said he’s focused on his campaign and ready to put in the “hard work.”

“I congratulate President Trump on the victory he had two weeks ago. I support good conservative policies that he’s going to push,” Carr said. “But it’s way too early to worry about his potential endorsement.”