The Georgia Hour, episode 61: Georgia’s 2026 Election Battle: Ossoff’s Out-of-State Cash, Kemp’s Pivotal Choice, & GOP Tensions

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.

With­in the Geor­gia GOP, grass­roots unrest is brew­ing. At the August 2023 Fish Fry, a pri­vate event turned con­tro­ver­sial when Voter­GA was removed as a spon­sor and paper bal­lot shirts were banned, spark­ing out­rage over elec­tion integri­ty. State GOP Chair­man Josh McK­oon is accused of sidelin­ing grass­roots demands, par­tic­u­lar­ly on paper bal­lots and Domin­ion machines, and fail­ing to uni­fy the par­ty. Crit­ics, includ­ing BKP, claim McKoon’s lead­er­ship has sti­fled dis­sent and pro­tect­ed estab­lish­ment fig­ures, with some betray­al by fig­ures like Deb­bie Doo­ley. The fall­out from the Fish Fry and McKoon’s refusal to con­demn Fani Willis high­light a broad­er push to “drain the swamp” and restore pow­er to GOP vot­ers, set­ting the stage for a con­tentious 2026 cycle.