Georgia runoff: Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate wins GOP nomination

Nicole Gaudiano | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Georgia voters nominated Secretary of State Brian Kemp – a self-described “politically incorrect conservative”– in a GOP primary runoff for governor on Tuesday after President Donald Trump endorsed him and a scandal rocked his opponent's campaign.

Kemp defeated Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in a heated race, 69-31 percentage points, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. He now faces Democrat Stacey Abrams, who could become the nation's first African-American female governor if she wins in November.

Kemp thanked his supporters for helping him win a "clear and convincing victory" and gave a special thanks to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

“We cannot forget that tweet we heard around Georgia," Kemp said of Trump's endorsement via Twitter. "We had the momentum in this race and those endorsements ... they poured gasoline on the fire and fueled the Kemp surge to victory."

Abrams tweeted her reaction with a link to a fundraising page, asking supporters to "stand with us."

"The race for #GAGov may change, but our values never will. Service, faith & family guide our vision for GA: Affordable health care. Excellent public schools for every child. An economy that works for all," she wrote.

Tonight, I have an opponent: Kemp.



The race for #GAGov may change, but our values never will. Service, faith & family guide our vision for GA: Affordable health care. Excellent public schools for every child. An economy that works for all.



Stand with us: https://t.co/4TaJgVVVn7 — Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) July 25, 2018

The outcome marks a turnaround for Cagle, who bested Kemp in the May primary but didn’t win enough votes to avoid a runoff election. Conceding to Kemp, he pledged his "full, undivided support" and he called on his supporters to do the same.

"We need a strong candidate and I think Brian can do it," Cagle said.

Cagle, who also supports Trump, was endorsed by the term-limited Gov. Nathan Deal, setting up an establishment-versus-outsider race with Kemp.

Kemp spent four years in the Georgia Senate and eight years as secretary of state. He describes himself as a “conservative small businessman” who has fought taxes, mandates and bureaucratic red tape in public office. In ads, Kemp flashed his conservative credentials by wielding shotguns and using an explosion to illustrate how he blows up government spending.

“I’ve got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself,” he said in his ad, “So Conservative.” “Yep, I just said that.”

He made waves with another ad showing him pointing a shotgun toward a teenager named “Jake” who wants to date his daughter. He closes his gun and announces his approval when Jake meets Kemp’s qualifications: “Respect” and “a healthy appreciation for the Second Amendment, sir.”

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Trump, who won Georgia by about 5 percentage points, weighed in on the race July 18, offering Kemp his “full and total endorsement,” ahead of Pence’s visit to campaign for Kemp. Trump on Saturday described Kemp as “very strong on Crime and Borders, Loves our Military, Vets and the 2nd Amendment,” adding that Kemp will be a “GREAT Governor.”

Trump has had better luck with endorsements in the South since he backed two losing candidates in December’s Alabama special Senate election. Notably, Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., once a Trump critic, won her primary runoff after receiving his endorsement, while state Rep. Katie Arrington upset Rep. Mark Sanford in South Carolina’s primary.

But Trump’s endorsement of Kemp followed negative revelations in June about Cagle, who was secretly recorded saying he backed a bad education bill to deprive another gubernatorial candidate of financial help from a super PAC. In another tape, Cagle said he felt the primary was about “who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck, you know, and who could be the craziest.”

Brian Kemp, who is running for Governor of Georgia and has my full endorsement, is campaigning tonight with VP @mike_pence. Brian is very strong on Crime and Borders, LOVES our Military, Vets and the 2nd Amendment. He will be a GREAT Governor! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2018

“I actually view the Trump endorsement in this case as leading from behind,” said Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University. “He saw one of the candidates was weaker and he endorsed the other candidate.”

Kemp said the election is about "the soul of our state." He said former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, "liberal special interests and even socialists" are getting behind Abrams and their attacks on him will be "vicious, baseless and constant."

Abrams, who won her primary in May with more than 76 percent of the vote, is the general election’s underdog in a red state that has never elected a woman governor and that has elected Republican governors since 2003. Kemp calls her “an extreme liberal” who wants to change the state’s values.

"Stacey Abrams wants to grow state government, I want to grow your paycheck," Kemp said.

But Abrams can perform strongly if she runs a “flawless” get-out-the-vote effort and if it is a Democratic wave election, Gillespie said. Abrams will likely use Kemp’s ads to portray him as “too extreme” for Georgia or as pandering and therefore untrustworthy.

“For Kemp the challenge is, can he pivot back to the center in ways that will allow him to keep his base,” she said. “I could see Jake, the prospective boyfriend, showing up in the future, but I expect the guns and the explosions to be kept to a minimum.”

Among the candidates in Georgia's other primary runoff elections were Democrats running for two competitive U.S. House seats in suburban Atlanta districts that Trump won in 2016. Both victories went to women competing in a record-breaking year for women running for office.

House candidate Carolyn Bourdeaux, a Georgia State University professor, bested David Kim, who owns a learning center chain, and will face GOP Rep. Rob Woodall in the fall.

Lucy McBath, a gun-control activist whose son was killed at a Florida gas station in 2012, defeated Kevin Abel, who owns a technology consulting business with his wife. She will challenge GOP Rep. Karen Handel, who narrowly won a special election last summer, with 51.9 percent of the vote, after the most expensive U.S. House race in history.