Georgia’s 2026 Election Stakes: Ossoff’s Out-of-State Funding vs. GOP’s Kemp Dilemma

As Geor­gia gears up for the 2026 elec­tions, Demo­c­ra­t­ic Sen­a­tor Jon Ossoff leads the Demo­c­ra­t­ic tick­et, fueled by a fundrais­ing jug­ger­naut where 9 out of 10 donors are from out­side Geor­gia. 

Repub­li­cans face a crit­i­cal chal­lenge with­out a con­firmed top-tick­et can­di­date. Gov­er­nor Bri­an Kemp, term-lim­it­ed and the GOP’s strongest con­tender, is under intense pres­sure from Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader John Thune and NRSC Chair Tim Scott to chal­lenge Ossoff. Kemp’s deci­sion, expect­ed soon, is piv­otal: his polit­i­cal machine could pre­vent down-bal­lot loss­es for con­sti­tu­tion­al offi­cers like lieu­tenant gov­er­nor and attor­ney gen­er­al. 

Burt Jones, a MAGA favorite, is run­ning for gov­er­nor. Raf­fensperg­er, rumored to be eye­ing the governor’s race, has been vis­i­ble at events like the Cobb Cham­ber, align­ing with Trump’s SAVE Act and cel­e­brat­ing Kemp’s tax relief bill, which sent $250 checks to Geor­gians but drew crit­i­cism for favor­ing cor­po­rate inter­ests like Hyundai and the film indus­try.

• Jon Ossoff is at the top of the tick­et for the democ­rats. Jon Ossoff fundrais­ing shows how non-Geor­gia donors are fuel­ing elec­tions. 9 out of 10 donors to his cam­paign come from out of state. All of the state’s con­sti­tu­tion­al offi­cers are on the tick­et. 
• We don’t have some­one at the top of the tick­et. We need to have some­one that can moti­vate and get the vote out and have the mon­ey, there is a high risk that we lose the gov­er­nor, lt gov­er­nor, etc. 
• We will find out this week hope­ful­ly what Bri­an Kemp is going to be doing. But he met with John Thune, Sen­ate Major­i­ty Leader. MTG can­not reach beyond her core group. The GOP lob­bies for Kemp to join the race. Kemp is the party’s strongest can­di­date in Geor­gia. And Mar­ty was in atten­dance with Bri­an at the meet­ing with Thune. Tim Scott is the nation­al repub­li­can sen­a­to­r­i­al cam­paign chair, he is in charge of rais­ing mon­ey and find­ing good can­di­dates to run for sen­ate in each state. Kemp is a deal mak­er and John Thune came to town to make a deal. Tim Scott has made offers to Kemp, com­mit­tee assign­ments. Kemp has prob­a­bly said to Tim Scott that the deal couldn’t be kept, but Thune came to town. 
• Now you have heard John King as our insur­ance com­mis­sion­er is want­i­ng to run. Then you have heard Bud­dy Carter, Mike Collins, then there is MTG. MTG held a town hall last night, you had to have a pho­to id that matched your reg­is­tra­tion and you had to be a con­stituent to reg­is­ter. 
• Bri­an Kemp is who they want at the top of the tick­et. If Bri­an Kemp is not at the top of the tick­et, he has the mon­ey and the polit­i­cal machine in place, repub­li­cans will start los­ing down bal­lot seats. He can moti­vate the vot­ers. Repub­li­cans have a major prob­lem in 2026. 
• Burt Jones is run­ning for gov­er­nor. We under­stand that Bri­an Kemp does not like Burt Jones. 
• Bri­an and Mar­ty sign the bill giv­ing you a 250 check in the mail but Hyundai got a half bil­lion water sys­tem and the movie indus­try got bil­lions of dol­lars of tax cred­its. 
• What is Raf­fensperg­er doing? He was at the cobb cham­ber, con­grat­u­lat­ing Trump on his SAVE act, cel­e­brat­ing passover, brag­ging he was at the bill sign­ing for the “mean­ing­ful relief for Geor­gia fam­i­lies into law.” Is he run­ning for gov­er­nor of Geor­gia?