Kemp stakes – With Georgia’s GOP Senate primary moving toward a possible June 16 runoff, Gov. Brian Kemp is backing Derek Dooley with major political and financial effort. The gamble pits Dooley—an outsider and former college football coach—against fellow Republicans Mike C
When Georgia’s GOP Senate primary vote arrives Tuesday, Gov.. Brian Kemp’s political endgame may already be visible—through a candidate he has effectively put his weight behind.. Derek Dooley. a former college football coach with no prior electoral résumé. has been sent into the race with Kemp’s endorsement and a new push of television messaging. a move Kemp and his allies describe as a bid to win back a Senate seat.
Kemp asked voters for “one last thing,” urging viewers in a new TV ad from his PAC to “Send Derek Dooley to the U.S. Senate.” The ad, airing this week, marks another sign Kemp is putting his political resources behind his preferred contender ahead of Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary.
The decision forces a sharper question inside Georgia’s Republicans: is backing Dooley a calculated bet on Kemp’s influence in a tightly divided swing state—or a high-stakes gamble that could come with sharp criticism if it fails.. Jay Morgan. a former Georgia GOP executive director. said he has “never seen a governor put so much of his personal capital on the line” in 30 years of Georgia political work. adding. “This one. the governor completely owns it.”
Dooley is battling GOP Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter for the nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. None of the Republicans is expected to win a majority of the primary vote Tuesday, which would push the race into a June 16 runoff between the top two vote-getters.
Collins and Carter have framed themselves as staunch allies of President Donald Trump. while Dooley has also said he supports Trump—yet positioned himself as a political outsider.. He has argued that records held by Carter and Collins could be used against them in November.. Kemp. speaking at a recent campaign event with Dooley in Habersham. said. “I have a very strong belief it’s going to take a political outsider to beat Jon Ossoff in this race.”
That outsider pitch runs alongside other pressure in the GOP field. Collins is facing an ongoing ethics investigation into whether he misused congressional funds, allegations Collins has dismissed as “bogus.”
As Kemp’s time in the governor’s office winds down—term limits barring another run for governor—the endorsement has also become a potential stress test for how much sway he still carries over GOP voters, with the race’s next phase stretching through June.
Kemp’s involvement is not only visible at events.. Dooley’s performance. and the impact in November. could shape how Georgia Republicans view the reach of Kemp’s operation as he weighs what comes next.. Some Georgia Republicans expect Kemp to at least consider running for president in 2028. pointing to his background as a conservative governor in a battleground state.. Yet a strategist who said he is not involved in the Senate race argued that Kemp’s standing could be harder to sell to presidential primary voters if Dooley cannot carry the effort in Georgia.
“If he can’t get a candidate across the line in his own state, I think it’s going to be very difficult for him to go to Iowa and get people to fund that proof of concept,” the strategist said.
Kemp’s public posture, however, keeps attention on Georgia politics in the immediate future.. In a recent interview. Kemp said he is “focused on 2026. ” and he refused to engage with questions about a potential presidential run.. A Kemp adviser said Kemp is “1,000%” focused on 2026 and is “not thinking about legacy at this point in time.”
The personal bond behind the endorsement is also central to the way the campaign has moved. Kemp is close personally with the Dooley family—Vince Dooley, Derek Dooley’s father, coached at the University of Georgia, and Derek Dooley previously coached at the University of Tennessee.
Kemp and his wife, Marty, have appeared consistently with Dooley on the campaign trail, joining him for each leg of his statewide tour, including the final stretch that kicked off on Wednesday. A Kemp adviser said Kemp has helped behind the scenes by making calls to donors to build support.
Dooley described Kemp as a “great mentor.” In a phone interview. Dooley said. “When you’re a political outsider and you have no history in politics. the one thing that I’ve learned is either you gotta have somebody supporting you that has a little political history to help you get off the ground. or you gotta have a lot of money. right?” Dooley added. “It’s one or the other. and I don’t have a lot of money.”
Dooley said Kemp connected him with supporters early. describing it as “a big boost for me early. to get in front of people who have influence. allowed me to get a meeting and allowed me to go sell myself.. And he has stuck with me ever since.” At the same time. Dooley emphasized that the endorsement would not do the work of persuasion for him.
“I have to go sell myself and my vision and how I’m going to represent the state, because Gov. Kemp’s not on the ballot,” he said.
Kemp’s PAC also added financial weight to the effort.. Hardworking Americans Inc.. has spent more than $3 million on pro-Dooley text messages and ads, according to campaign finance reports.. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Kemp’s decision to back Dooley winnowed the primary field. prompting one candidate to end his campaign.
Kemp laid out the goal plainly when he addressed a cafe crowd in Habersham. saying. “People have asked us. why are you so engaged in this race?. Why are you not only endorsing Derek Dooley. but why are you out there working hard for him?” He answered. “It’s really one reason.. That’s because I want to win our Senate seat back.”
Ossoff and Democratic Sen.. Raphael Warnock first won their races in 2021 runoffs, and Warnock won again in 2022, defeating Trump-backed Herschel Walker.. Republicans view Ossoff as a top target as they defend their Senate majority this year. but Ossoff has stockpiled $32 million as he gears up for the race.
Inside Georgia’s GOP, concern is mixed with calculation about how hard November could be.. Several Georgia Republicans were concerned about their prospects. particularly as Trump’s approval rating has tanked and gas prices have surged amid the Iran war.. One GOP strategist described the likely eventual nominee as a “sacrificial lamb.” Others were more optimistic but acknowledged the race would be very tough for Republicans.
The party also faces a practical drain: the GOP primary is expected to drag on until the June runoff, further draining resources.
Trump looms over the outcome in another way—through the possibility of whether he chooses to weigh in in the runoff and reshape the field’s momentum. All three candidates have been jockeying for Trump’s endorsement.
Collins told NBC News at a recent event in Dahlonega that Trump has “this impeccable ability to just inject himself into the race and support people at the right time.. At the end of the day.. I look forward to having his support.. I’d love to have his support.” Carter said in a Thursday interview that he sought Trump’s backing. adding. “If he does indeed decide to get involved. we feel very comfortable that he’s going to endorse us. and we hope he does.”
Dooley has said he wants to earn Trump’s support and met with the president in August. In his ads, Dooley says he will “work with President Trump but for you.”
Still, the relationship between Trump and Kemp has never been smooth.. Kemp clashed with Trump after Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss. when the president falsely claimed the election in Georgia was stolen.. Kemp pushed back, and Trump responded by trying to oust the governor in 2022, endorsing former Sen.. David Perdue in the primary.. Kemp won the Republican nomination in a landslide, beating Perdue by 52 points.
Dooley has kept his positioning balanced between the two men’s opposing views of the 2020 election.. Twice, he declined to directly say if he agreed with Kemp that the election was not stolen.. “We all know there were a lot of issues in 2020. ” Dooley said. noting he wanted to stay focused on winning in 2026.
Kemp and Trump have largely moved on since those clashes. and two Kemp advisers said the governor and president speak “often.” The battle with Trump has not. at least publicly. hurt Kemp’s approval among Georgia Republicans.. A recent poll found 85% of likely GOP primary voters approved of Kemp’s job as governor, with 55% strongly approving.
Even within Trump’s base in Georgia, there are hints of discomfort with a direct confrontation with Kemp.. Debbie Dooley—an unrelated tea party activist backing Derek Dooley in Tuesday’s primary—said some Trump supporters are “having second thoughts” about opposing Kemp in the past.. She said she organized censure resolutions against Kemp following the 2020 election and backed Perdue in 2022. but now argues Kemp can help Republicans win back the Senate seat.
“They realize [Kemp] can help us take back that Senate seat from Ossoff and his record of success in passing conservative agenda — I mean, he stood strong when even Donald Trump was criticizing him. And I think he gained a lot of respect [for] that,” she said.
Derek Dooley. meanwhile. stayed close to Kemp and declined to name a Kemp policy he disagreed with. saying he is “not going to go bill by bill on everything.” He described Kemp’s leadership as a “real inspiration. ” adding that Kemp “has an ability to respect all sides and work with all sides and delivers results.”
In the runoff math inside the GOP primary, Collins and Carter have also avoided trying to widen the gap between Dooley and Trump by attacking Kemp’s clashes with the president. Carter said he counts Kemp as a friend and respects Kemp’s decision to support “a childhood friend.”
“He’s a very popular governor. He’s done a great job. And once we’re in the runoff and Derek Dooley is not, I hope that he will consider endorsing us,” Carter said.
Collins said Kemp “has done a good job” and added, “And this is all I’ll say at the end of the day: I look forward to having Gov. Kemp’s support in this race too, when we get through the primary.”
Dooley, for his part, said Kemp’s endorsement cannot do the persuading for him. “Gov. Kemp’s endorsement is not going to win me the election,” Dooley said. “I have to go earn it from every voter out there in Georgia, and that’s what I’ve been doing the past nine months.”
The thread running through the campaign is that Kemp’s support—personal appearances with Marty Kemp. behind-the-scenes donor calls. and Hardworking Americans Inc.’s more than $3 million in pro-Dooley text messages and ads—comes at the same time as the GOP primary’s uncertainty. with no majority expected Tuesday and a June 16 runoff looming.. That timing stacks with what Republicans say is at stake: breaking a Senate losing streak in a state they once dominated. while Ossoff enters the race with $32 million and the party expects to keep spending through June.
For now, Kemp’s play is both direct and narrowly aimed.. His TV ad urges voters to “Send Derek Dooley to the U.S.. Senate,” while Kemp’s own comments place his immediate focus on “2026” and not on legacy or a future presidential path.. Whether that message transfers into votes Tuesday—and whether Trump ultimately decides to intervene after the primary—will determine how much of Kemp’s sway becomes a lasting political asset or a painful lesson inside the Republican Party.
Georgia Senate race Brian Kemp Derek Dooley Mike Collins Buddy Carter Jon Ossoff Raphael Warnock Trump endorsement Hardworking Americans Inc June 16 runoff