Brian Kemp passed on a Georgia Senate run. Then he threw himself in the middle of the GOP primary | CNN Politics

Brian Kemp may not be running for US Senate — but the Georgia governor is campaigning like his name is on the ballot. “I want to win our Senate seat back,” Kemp told voters at a bike and coffee shop here just days ahead of Tuesday’s primary. “We haven’t done so well in US Senate races here in the state of Georgia in the last several cycles, and we have one more opportunity to try to get one of our Senate seats back. And we got to have the right person to do that.” National Republicans long viewed term-limited Kemp as their strongest candidate to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, but the governor passed on the opportunity last May after months of private lobbying by GOP leaders. Now, Republicans are grappling with a splintered field in Georgia that some worry could hinder their chances of flipping the seat in November and boost the Democrats’ chances of winning the majority in the Senate. The right person, Kemp believes, is Derek Dooley — a former head football coach at the University of Tennessee. He’s running against two MAGA-aligned congressmen — Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getter

May 18, 2026 → May 18, 2026