Kemp threatens to back primary challenges against Republicans who oppose his litigation rewrite

The extraordinary warning came as opponents prepare an amendment that could strip a provision in Kemp’s overhaul that requires plaintiffs to show jurors actual medical costs instead of initial bills that sometimes have inflated estimates.

It raises the stakes considerably as the Georgia Senate prepares a Friday vote on the measure.

Kemp has often prevailed when he takes sides in Republican primaries. And if he chooses to do so next year, he can tap into more than $4.5 million in contributions stockpiled in his leadership fundraising committee, a powerful tool that can accept unlimited donations.

That could be particularly prickly for ambitious Republicans angling for higher office. Several are among a small group of Republicans with trial law experience who have criticized some of the provisions in the sweeping overhaul during a five-hour committee hearing earlier this month. Still, the measure sailed through by an 8-3 vote with their support.

Their concerns, however, mirror those from trial lawyers, patient advocates and Democrats who argue his plan would strip Georgians of their right to challenge powerful corporations in court while doing little to lower insurance rates.

“Gov. Kemp is clearly worried about whether this bill that fails to protect victims and strips citizens of their rights will pass, and he should be,” said state Rep. Tanya Miller, one of the House’s top Democrats. “Legislators of both parties understand that access to justice for those who have been harmed is not a partisan issue, it is a basic constitutional right.”

And some Republicans predicted Kemp’s threat could backfire. State Sen. Colton Moore, an ultraconservative who has long picked fights with GOP powerbrokers, goaded Kemp to “drain that swamp money” in his northwest Georgia district.

Kemp and his allies, meanwhile, say resolving a decades-long feud over what they call “tort reform” will bring down costs and help curb rising insurance premiums. They often point to other states, such as Florida, as examples of how a rewrite can stabilize rate hikes.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but all of the measures will put things in play and pressures back to the market so that we have a competitive insurance market in this state,” said Senate President Pro Tem John Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor.

The fight in Georgia over litigation rules has raged for decades, and Kemp has staked his entire legislative agenda this year on its passage.

His proposal would restrict when businesses can be sued for injuries on their property, regulate how damages are calculated in personal injury cases, and limit outside groups from bankrolling third-party litigation.

Hall said the governor’s office “spent more time working with people who were opposed to this legislation” than anyone else to strike a compromise. Now, he said, opponents seem more interested in scuttling the effort than reaching an agreement.

Kemp, who regularly polls as Georgia’s most popular Republican, has deployed his leadership committee to spend millions of dollars backing state GOP lawmakers to keep his party in command of the Legislature. Hall said Kemp won’t be afraid to use it to counter Republicans who cross him.

“We have a strong bill and any changes to that bill would weaken our efforts to impact full tort reform,” said Hall. “And I would remind folks that the governor doesn’t make idle promises.”