The long-standing tension between President Donald Trump and Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp is well-documented. And at least one Republican strategist in the Peach State fears it’s just a matter of time until their uneasy truce turns into a bitter intra-party battle.
Politico reported Tuesday that the high-profile U.S. Senate race in Georgia — in which Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) will be battling for another six-year term in a state Trump narrowly won in 2024 — is expected to feature a highly competitive Republican primary between the Trump and Kemp wings of the Georgia GOP. Republican strategist Harrison Lance, who has not yet endorsed a primary candidate, said the temporary truce Trump struck with Georgia’s term-limited governor in order to win the Peach State will almost certainly fall apart.
“Kemp and Trump are playing really, really nice … because they have to. The two guys don’t like each other,” Lance said. “At some point they’re just going to come to blows.”
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Trump’s dislike of Kemp goes back to 2019, when Kemp appointed Republican megadonor Kelly Loeffler to a vacant U.S. Senate seat, rather than Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), whom Trump endorsed for the position. And Kemp publicly admonished Trump over his false claims that Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent after Democrat Joe Biden won the state.
However, the two set aside their differences in 2024, leading Trump to win the Peach State by roughly 115,000 votes. And both Trump and Kemp had planned to meet to discuss a way to discourage Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from running before the far-right Republican announced she wouldn’t be seeking the seat. But the May 2026 Republican Senate primary in Georgia is likely to reignite friction between the two GOP leaders.
Politico reported that Kemp will likely endorse college football coach Derek Dooley, who is the son of former University of Georgia head coach Vince Dooley. Meanwhile, Trump is expected to rally behind Collins. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) is also throwing his hat in the ring ahead of next year’s contest. Ossoff, however, has no Democratic opponent, and is already busy campaigning across Georgia in hopes of keeping the Southern state in the Democratic column for the foreseeable future.
“While Georgia Republicans are distracted by their brutal messy primary, the Ossoff campaign will continue to build insurmountable momentum needed to win next November,” Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty told Politico.
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