The Georgia Hour, episode 57: Georgia’s Governor Race and GOP Power Struggles

The upcom­ing Georgia’s governor’s race, where for­mer Atlanta May­or Keisha Lance Bot­toms plans to attack Trump’s sec­ond-term agen­da, warn­ing of a moral and eco­nom­ic cri­sis under GOP lead­er­ship. Repub­li­can con­tenders Chris Carr, adopt­ing a MAGA stance, and Burt Jones are run­ning, while Gov­er­nor Bri­an Kemp and Speak­er Jon Burns face back­lash for exces­sive spend­ing and block­ing elec­tion secu­ri­ty bills—the first ses­sion with­out such mea­sures since 2021 under GOP chair Josh McK­oon. Kemp dodges Trump’s tar­iff agen­da, focus­ing on jobs, while John King vocal­ly backs Trump’s Amer­i­ca-first poli­cies. Sen­a­tor Jon Ossoff banks $11M in cam­paign funds, and Kemp finds $50M in extra rev­enue, yet the state’s largest-ever bud­get, laden with pork. Oth­er polit­i­cal moves include Bri­an Strick­land and Bill Cowsert eye­ing the AG role and spec­u­la­tion about Kemp run­ning for Sen­ate.

Rumors swirl that if David Cross becomes chair­man of GAGOP, BKP could con­trol funds as exec­u­tive direc­tor, alarm­ing the “swamp”. Crit­ics claim Josh McK­oon and Salleigh Grubbs rig the par­ty by exclud­ing can­di­dates like Lisa Pierce and Kylie Kre­mer, prompt­ing Colton Moore to retract endorse­ments. Dark mon­ey fig­ure Deb­bie Doo­ley, linked to NGOs, and Stan Fitzger­ald, a for­mer inmate tied to a forgery scam and Vet­er­ans for Amer­i­ca First, add con­tro­ver­sy. McK­oon dis­tances him­self from BKP amid scan­dal, while ques­tions arise about his accep­tance of Fitzgerald’s endorse­ment, high­light­ing hypocrisy and pow­er plays with­in the GA GOP.