Kemp’s all-in approach reshapes Georgia’s legal landscape

In his seven years as Georgia’s top politician, Kemp has run the gamut of strategies during the 40-day legislative sessions that can define or derail a governor’s legacy.

Some years, he’s bulldozed through hard-line priorities like abortion restrictions, gun rights expansions and tax cuts. Other times, he’s stuck to a “let them fight it out” philosophy, letting legislators hash out the finer points of thorny controversies.

But this legislative session was different. Kemp put nearly all of his political clout on the line for a single, sweeping piece of legislation: a vast overhaul of Georgia’s legal landscape that cleared its final legislative hurdle Friday when the Senate agreed to changes that narrowly passed the House. Kemp will sign it within weeks.

It was the most ambitious legal rewrite a Georgia governor had attempted since Republican Sonny Perdue signed a “tort reform” measure in 2005 — though many of those changes were later unraveled by the courts.

Kemp’s decision to go all-in was a high-risk bet that could have tarnished his second term. Failure would have been a stinging political blow after he spent years to pass the bill — and as he looks to shape his party’s future ahead of 2026 midterm elections.

It almost fell apart.

Kemp needed every ounce of his political muscle to force the measure through both chambers, using a mix of threats and pressure tactics. Though it passed comfortably in the Senate, it cleared the House by the bare minimum of 91 votes after a dramatic debate.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

“Gov. Kemp had to use every single tool he had at his disposal and burn so much political capital as he enters this lame-duck period just to force everyone to pass this bill,” said state Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Gwinnett Democrat who voted against it. “And in spite of that, it almost lost.”

But Kemp’s allies saw something else at play: A governor operating at the peak of his political power, flexing his clout at a time when his predecessors’ influence would have been fading.

“He accomplished what so many others have just talked about — getting a tort reform bill actually passed,” said Jason Shepherd, a Kennesaw State University political scientist and former Cobb GOP chair. “And thanks to an effective political organization and substantial war chest, he continues to hold enormous sway.”

Threats and defections

Kemp waited until his second term to take on this all-or-nothing fight, announcing it at a Georgia Chamber of Commerce event ahead of the 2024 session. But just as lawmakers returned to the Capitol, he made the stunning decision to postpone the effort for a year.

During the hiatus, Kemp held roundtables around the state, courted well-financed business backers and deployed his political network to rally support for the changes. Millions of dollars were spent on ads aimed at promoting the overhaul.

Kemp set the stakes for returning lawmakers in January, warning lawmakers during his State of the State that he’d drag them back to Atlanta if they failed to pass the litigation overhaul.

When some Republicans wavered ahead of a key Senate vote, Kemp dispatched his top political adviser to deliver a blunt message: a vote against the bill risks a Kemp-backed primary challenge.

And his political allies fired off digital ads and mailers aimed at hesitant Republicans, pressuring them to support the campaign. Kemp had plenty of allies, both inside and outside the Gold Dome, who financed media blitzes and lobbied for the vote.

One coalition that backed Kemp’s plan, Competitive Georgia, spent nearly $2 million digital ads, text messages, emails and other effort targeting constituents of on-the-fence legislators.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

House Speaker Jon Burns and his chief deputy, Chris Riley, rallied supporters throughout the month, helping to find three Democratic votes to offset GOP defections. State Rep. James Burchett, the bill’s sponsor, worked until the last second to lock down the 91st vote needed for passage in the House.

“This is going to make lawyers bring better cases,” said Burchett, a Waycross Republican.

A second-term enforcer

The pressure campaign worked, though not without resistance. Nearly a dozen Republicans in both chambers still voted against the measure. And behind the scenes, Kemp quietly agreed to concessions that scaled back some of the toughest portions of the bill to avoid a broader rebellion.

It also left fractious Democrats pointing fingers. Democratic state Rep. Stacey Evans, who led her party’s fight against the measure, said she hoped voters would hold the Democratic renegades “to account.” One, state Rep. Mack Jackson of Sandersville, flirted with switching to the GOP.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Kemp’s aggressive approach reflects a strategy he’s honed over two terms. He’s avoided taking public positions on most measures pending under the Gold Dome — even the most contentious ones — preferring to play a background role.

But when it comes to his top priorities, Kemp shifts from behind-the-scenes strategist to in-your-face enforcer.

“Because he’s a former senator, he usually lets the legislative process play itself out,’” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said. “But he has had a few issues that he’s been passionate about in his last seven years, and this was a big issue that he obviously had good reason to be passionate about.”

Kemp can afford to throw his weight around.

Polls consistently show him as the most popular Republican in the state, fueling speculation he could run for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or even the White House in 2028.

His influence is so pervasive that even his critics acknowledge he casts a shadow over the Statehouse no matter what he does. Lawmakers fret over his reaction to proposals, even when they’re off his radar.

But Kemp’s victory didn’t come without consequences. His bruising approach left a trail of resentment among Democrats and even some Republicans who felt steamrolled by the governor’s tactics.

One of the Republicans who voted against the bill said it felt like “Sherman marched through Georgia all over again.” Some GOP supporters quietly groused about the heavy-handed tactics. And Democrats blasted Kemp allies for going along with a rewrite that could haunt them.

“This is not a bill about big business and trial attorneys,” said state Rep. Sam Park, one of the chamber’s top Democrats. “This is a bill about whether or not Georgians and victims have access to justice.”

The governor, for his part, said it was worth the fight to “stabilize the marketplace” and improve Georgia’s business climate.

“I’m very satisfied. This has been going on for years now, to little avail,” Kemp said. “We have a great bill here, in my opinion. Political capital, all that other kind of stuff, I’m not worried about all that. This has been an issue that everybody in this building has worked hard on.”

Staff writer Maya T. Prabhu contributed to this report.