<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655483456355,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000175-4195-d820-abff-7fdf1f080000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655483456355,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000175-4195-d820-abff-7fdf1f080000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55483450", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1020808"} }); ","_id":"00000181-727f-db25-adf7-7a7ffb480000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA seemingly low-profile congressional runoff race has developed into a proxy war between former President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp as the GOP heavyweights battle for control over Georgia Republicans.
Kemp on Thursday endorsed Mike Collins in the state’s 10th Congressional District runoff election, a move that puts him at odds with Trump, who has gone all-in for candidate Vernon Jones.
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The district, a conservative stronghold made up of 18 counties, stretches from the outskirts of Henry County in metro Atlanta to the border of South Carolina. Neither candidate met the 50% threshold needed during the May 24 primary election for an outright win and will go head to head on Tuesday in the runoff.
House Republicans need to gain five seats in the 435-member chamber to win back the majority they lost in 2018.
While a GOP win is the goal in the 10th District, the feud between Trump and Kemp has usurped the contest in the days leading up to the runoff.
“It’s obvious this is about the governor and the ex-president trying one more time to see who Georgia Republicans love the most,” Atlanta voter Aimee Krugger told the Washington Examiner. “They might say pretty things about [Collins and Jones], but it stopped being about the candidates a long time ago.”
Kemp, who has lived in the district for decades, called Collins, the son of a congressman, a “trusted conservative” in his endorsement.
The governor won several of the 10th District’s counties by more than 80% of the vote during his landslide primary election victory over Trump’s hand-picked candidate, former Sen. David Perdue.
KEMP ENDORSES MIKE COLLINS OVER TRUMP-BACKED VERNON JONES IN GEORGIA RUNOFF
The rejection by Georgia voters of the Trump-backed candidate hasn’t sat well with the former president, and races like the 10th District are of utmost importance as he seeks to strengthen his stranglehold over the Republican Party.
However, placing his faith in Jones, who has a spotty past, could backfire.
Jones served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Democrat. He was on the outs with his then-party when, in 2020, he rose to national prominence as one of the loudest black voices to endorse Trump’s reelection. He announced he was switching parties during a pro-Trump demonstration in Washington, D.C., organized by Women for America First, just hours before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Jones, who refers to himself as the “black Donald Trump,” abandoned a GOP bid against Kemp to clear the field for Perdue at Trump’s behest. In return, Trump promised to endorse Jones in his congressional run.
In a taped call that was distributed districtwide this week, Trump called Jones a “friend” and “a great guy who has been unfairly treated” and urged his MAGA base to rally behind the bombastic Georgian.
During the primaries, both candidates ran as unabashed pro-Trump conservatives, though only Jones nabbed his seal of approval. Collins narrowly lost the primary to Rep. Jody Hice in 2014. Hice left his east Georgia House seat to run for secretary of state with Trump’s blessing but was beaten by sitting Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the primary.
Jones has run his campaign primarily on his closeness to the former president and his disdain for Kemp.
“President Trump endorsed Vernon because he knows that Vernon is the only person in this race who can be trusted to advance the America First agenda, tackle inflation, and fight for Georgia families,” his campaign told the Washington Examiner. “While our opponent may claim to be pro-Trump, President Trump has shown time and again that he is not pro-him. And for good reason.”
David McLaughlin, host of the Kudzu Vine political podcast, told the Washington Examiner it’s clear why Kemp is aligned with Collins and Trump with Jones.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Brian Kemp and Mike Collins are cut from the same middle-aged white male insider cloth that the Georgia Republican Party is built on,” McLaughlin said Friday. “At the same time, Donald Trump and Vernon Jones have a de facto, quid pro quo relationship supporting each other. Trump gets to point to some diversity in his coalition, and Jones gets to claim Republican cred through Trump’s support. I am just interested to see what happens when one no longer finds the other one useful.”
Krugger, a lifelong Republican, said she hopes Tuesday’s runoff puts the bad blood between Kemp and Trump to rest, but she added, “We all want it to happen but know it’s not.”
