I’ve long beat the drum that the characterization of Georgia as a “purple” state is overblown. The urban areas of the Peach State exercise an outsized influence, but Georgia’s electorate is more conservative than our current senators would lead people to believe.
In my preview of the November election, I explained the quirks that led us to have two Democrats representing Georgia in the Senate:
The specter of 2020 election shenanigans loomed over the 2021 Senate runoff, in which both of our senators were up for reelection (one in a regular election and the other in a special election). Thanks to worries of vote-stealing, exacerbated by Democrat billboards that discouraged Republicans from voting because "they're going to steal your vote," 750,000 GOP voters stayed home from the runoff, giving us two Democrat senators.
The 2022 Senate election saw a different issue that hurt the Republicans. Herschel Walker, the Republican candidate, couldn't shake a constant barrage of allegations against him as well as doubts that he would be an effective legislator. Walker is a childhood hero of mine — for football, not necessarily for politics — but he was a weak candidate, and voters thought so, too. His was the only statewide race where the Republican lost; all other GOP candidates won by impressive margins.
We’re stuck with the un-Christian pastor and slum lord, Sen. Raphael Warnock, until 2028, which is a shame. He’s so full of himself that his senatorial X account refers to him as “Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock.” I don’t remember which confirmation hearing it was, but he told one Trump nominee that since he’s a pastor, he has the right to interrupt people.
“When Warnock asks, ‘What would Jesus do?’ he thinks the answer is baby-killing, slum-lording, and character assassination,” I wrote of Warnock in 2022. “Let’s also not forget that when he was a youth pastor in New York City, his church refused to hire ‘workfare’ recipients and hosted Fidel Castro at an event.
I still can’t help but wonder why it’s not “Christian nationalism” when Warnock stumps for abortion and other left-wing causes. We have a few more years of Warnock as an albatross around Georgians’ necks, but the work to defeat the state’s other Democrat senator, Sen. Jon Ossoff, has already begun.
Ossoff has been an unremarkable legislator. He hasn’t done anything beyond voting in lockstep with the Democrats on every bill. He and Warnock refused to vote for cloture on last week’s continuing resolution, and we should never forget that both of them were prepared to shut the government down.
What’s the lay of the land in the 2026 Senate race in the Peach State? Right now, Ossoff is the only declared candidate, and no Democrats have stepped up to primary him. The biggest potential candidate on the Republican side is Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited out of office at the end of his current term, which happens to end in 2026.
I’ve made no secret what I think of Kemp, who has been an excellent governor. He has also built a formidable political machine that helped the GOP sweep every statewide race except Warnock’s and helped turn out Republican voters in 2024.
Flashback for Our VIPs: Is Brian Kemp Getting Ready for the National Stage?
Kemp has stayed quiet about his future, but scuttlebutt about a 2026 Senate run lingers. He has plenty of support from Republicans, as The Hill reported in a February piece.
“I support the Draft Kemp movement,” Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) told The Hill. “Our governor can win that seat. But if he takes a pass, I’ll talk with President Trump and see who he needs us to support to make sure he has another vote in the Senate.”
Side note: Collins is my congressman, and I like the idea of keeping him in our district. But I would wholeheartedly support him if Kemp didn’t run and Collins decided to throw his hat into the ring.
“Somebody that doesn’t carry the name ID and reputation and financing of Brian Kemp is going to be in a dogfight against Jon Ossoff, but folks know that he’s beatable. Georgia is a center-right state,” Cole Muzio, the president of Frontline Policy Council and Frontline Policy Action, told The Hill.
“It’s kind of the parlor game in Georgia right now,” Erick Erickson said. “Everybody hopes he runs in ‘26, but he’s not really given an indication right now as to what he does.”
Related: When Will Democrats Apologize to Georgia for Lying About Election Integrity?
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is high on Kemp for 2026. Semafor reported in late January:
The newly elected chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee met last week with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who’s emerging as the top potential GOP recruit for the midterm elections as the party seeks a challenger to Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga. Kemp is listening to Scott: The two met ahead of the inauguration and have been texting.
“We are looking for a way to make our Number One recruit a senator,” Scott told Semafor of Kemp. “He would be the best candidate in Georgia we’ve had for a very long time.”
Erickson said that should Kemp choose not to run, Georgia could be in for a “messy primary.” Several noteworthy Republicans have expressed interest in the seat.
“Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and state Insurance Commissioner John King have both expressed interest in the race, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is leaving the door open to run for the Senate or governor,” The Hill noted. “Ryan Mahoney, a senior political adviser to Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), confirmed to The Hill that the congressman was mulling a bid.”
Regardless of who runs this race, we conservatives in Georgia have our work cut out for us in the next two elections. We must defeat Ossoff and Warnock for a myriad of reasons, but more than anything else, we need to send them packing because they don’t represent the people of Georgia as much as they claim to. Let’s get to work!
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