Atlanta [US], October 1 : The 2020 presidential election remains at the center of Georgia's Republican gubernatorial primary, where three top contenders who played crucial roles in either defending or challenging the state's results are vying to succeed term-limited Governor Brian Kemp, The Hill reported.
Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are competing for the party's nomination, with Jones carrying the endorsement of US President Donald Trump. Raffensperger and Carr, however, are known for rebuffing Trump's efforts to overturn Joe Biden's narrow win in Georgia.
The primary has become a test of whether GOP voters in the state will back a candidate for independence from Trump or prioritize loyalty to him above all else.
"I think it's gonna play a part," former Congressman Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican who advised Trump in 2016, told The Hill. "If not actively, it's in people's hardwiring," he added.
Jones was one of more than a dozen alternative electors who sought to overturn Biden's victory in Georgia, though he faced no charges.
Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia, said last year that Jones's actions were "reasonable and not criminal in nature."
He noted Jones had acted "based upon the advice of attorneys and legal scholars," adding that while such advice "may eventually be judged to be incorrect, Senator Jones, like any other citizen, should not be punished for relying upon the guidance of counsel under these specific facts and conditions."
By contrast, Raffensperger became nationally recognized when a leaked phone call revealed Trump urging him to "find" more than 11,000 votes to overturn his loss.
Raffensperger rejected the request, leading Georgia GOP delegates to pass a resolution branding him "repugnant" to the party.
Carr also defended the state against multiple legal challenges, dismissing one lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as "constitutionally, legally and factually wrong."
Despite Trump's backing of Jones, his rivals argue that opposing Trump is not necessarily disqualifying.
Raffensperger recalled his 2022 victory over a Trump-backed challenger, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's "Politically Georgia" podcast: "Like I did in 2022... Just go out and talk to folks, and I won a primary without a runoff and I won in the fall -- largest winning percentage."
Carr, in an interview with The Hill, emphasized his alignment with Kemp during the 2020 contest.
"I'm proud of the role that I played defending the rule of law and the Constitution in 2020, and I stood with Brian Kemp [to] uphold that rule of law, and we followed the facts, we followed the law and we followed the evidence," he said.
He further argued that "Burt Jones wrapping himself in the 2020 election chaos -- it's simply a losing strategy that cost Georgia two Senate seats, and Georgia Republicans remember all the time ... that we don't have those two Senate seats that should be ours, but it was because of that chaos."
When asked directly if Jones bore responsibility for the GOP's Senate losses in 2020, Carr told The Hill: "Absolutely, I do."
Jones's campaign declined to respond to the comments.
Republican strategists suggest that Raffensperger and Carr's best path forward is to prevent Jones from securing a majority in the primary and force a runoff.
"I think somewhere in there, [Carr] and Raffensperger are going to be splitting whatever other vote that will not vote for Burt Jones for whatever reason and are looking for an alternative," former state GOP Chair Chuck Clay said.
Clay noted that Raffensperger has higher name recognition from the 2020 controversy but said that "cuts both ways, obviously."
Republican strategist Jay Williams framed the race bluntly, telling The Hill: "It's probably just going to be like, who are the guys with Trump and that were fighting for his agenda, and who are the people that weren't. I think that's probably the differentiator."
Jones, a former University of Georgia football captain, has embraced his ties to Trump, running ads highlighting the president's endorsement and branding Carr and Raffensperger as "Never Trumpers."