(The Center Square) – Georgia’s gubernatorial race is nearly a year away but candidates are racking up endorsements early.
President Donald Trump made it clear who he is supporting in the race with an endorsement of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones this week.
Trump used all caps at various points in his social media post to say in part Burt was among the first in the Georgia Legislature to endorse the Floridian for president. He also said, “Burt was strongly committed to my campaign in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and worked tirelessly to help us win. Burt Jones for governor has my complete and total endorsement – he will never let you down!”
Jones and Attorney General Chris Carr are the two best known candidates in the primary.
“Chris Carr is the only conservative Republican who can win the primary and the general election,” said a spokesman for Carr’s campaign in an email to The Center Square. “The attorney general will continue to work with President Trump now and as governor on the issues that matter to hardworking Georgians.”
Trump’s endorsement is going to help Jones, said Dr. Zachary F. Peskowitz, a political science professor with Emory University, in an interview with The Center Square.
“Endorsements are one of the key ways in which candidates can differentiate themselves in a primary,” Peskowitz said. “But it’s not the end of the campaign, it’s not necessary to win.”
Peskowitz referred to the campaigns of Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, who both won without Trump’s backing.
While the Republican primary appears to be a two-person race at this point, seven others have filed with the Georgia Campaign Finance System as GOP candidates. They are Ben Anderson, Gregg Rodney Kirkpatrick, Billy Gene Minter II, Leland J. Olinger II, Walter Paschal Reeves II, Takosha Mishel Swan and Kenneth Yasger. Swan has said in a social media post she is seeking the lieutenant governor’s post.
Scotty Ellison is running as an independent.
Campaigns have changed over the years, giving lesser-known statewide candidates a better chance in statewide races, Peskowitz said.
“Party leaders are just much less important than they used to be and the politics of running a campaign and contesting a primary are much more decentralized than they were 10 to 20 years ago,” Peskowitz said. “Now you can raise money through text messages and online advertisements direct to voters. It’s really opened up a lot of opportunities for maybe less lower profile candidates to put their hat in the ring in a big race like this.”
The Democratic contest has two high-profile Georgians and two state legislators among the long list of candidates.
Former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, who also served two terms as DeKalb County CEO, entered the race for the Democratic nod last week. He joins former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and state Rep. Derrick Jackson.
Esteves has garnered endorsements from 10 of his Senate colleagues, 13 members of the Georgia House of Representatives and four current members of the Atlanta City Council, among others, according to his campaign’s Facebook page.
Bottoms said on social media page she is backed by the American Federation of Government Employees.
Other Democratic candidates are Olu Brown, Benjamin Turner and Ocean Zotique. U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath is also on the list but she said previously she is not running.
The date for the Georgia primary has not been set. The general election is Nov. 3, 2026.
