Over the weekend, the Georgia GOP met and held its leadership elections. A state party that had been such a hot mess in recent years that Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) bypassed it during his successful 2022 reelection campaign has righted the ship under Chairman Josh McKoon, who handily won reelection.
Since the convention took place in Dalton, Ga., in the heart of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district, it made sense that she would give a speech. She ripped the Republican-led Georgia General Assembly for falling short of passing some key conservative initiatives, and after she was done, she sat down with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein to muse about her future.
Bluestein called the speech “another sign” that MTG is “considering a run to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp in a GOP primary likely dominated by Donald Trump supporters.”
The field is already getting crowded: Keisha Lance Bottoms, Atlanta’s former mayor, is the highest-profile name on the Democrats’ side, and at least two other Democrats are throwing their hats into the ring. Attorney General Chris Carr (R-Ga.) is the sole Republican in the race at the moment, but Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R-Ga.) will most likely announce his candidacy this summer.
Greene told Bluestein that the current GOP field doesn’t excite her.
“I’m not throwing criticism on any of them, but I am not overly impressed at this time,” she admitted. “The only declared governor’s candidate is Chris Carr, and I was very shocked and disappointed to see that he did not sign on with 40 other attorney generals across the country on the letter they sent to Washington about the moratorium on AI… It’s a deal breaker.”
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Greene turned down the chance to run for the Senate earlier this spring, and she hasn’t made up her mind on running for governor. She also told Bluestein that a campaign for governor is a heavy decision.
“It’s definitely something that I think is smart for me to consider, but it’s not a decision I take lightly,” she said. “I absolutely love my district. I cannot say that enough times. I think Georgia’s 14th District is wonderful, and I have a very powerful position in Congress. But I love my state. I really do.”
Kemp is leaving big shoes to fill. As Georgia’s first modern governor who had always been part of the GOP (as opposed to Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal, who started their political careers as Democrats and moved to the Republican Party), Kemp has governed the Peach State as a solid conservative and achieved many key victories for families and businesses throughout the state. There’s never been a more reliable and effective conservative governor in this state in my lifetime, and I’ve lived in Georgia all my life.
Side note: I know that anytime I write about Kemp, it stirs up the Kemp Derangement Syndrome sufferers on social media and sometimes in the comments section. Many people were sore at Kemp over his lack of support for the claims that the Democrats stole the 2020 election in Georgia. But Kemp never stopped supporting Donald Trump, and the two patched things over last year. Brian Kemp is nothing short of a true conservative fighter, a man of sterling character who loves his state, and a solid MAGA supporter.
Greene knows that the candidate who gets the backing of Trump and Kemp would easily become the frontrunner.
“I’ve always thought there’s tremendous power between President Trump and Gov. Kemp,” she told Bluestein. “And you know, I’ve supported the governor, I’ve supported him a long time. And, of course, I absolutely have always supported President Trump. So I think that that unity is a good thing.”
At the same time, she told Bluestein that candidates shouldn’t run based on their MAGA bona fides: “I don’t think anybody should run on their relationship with President Trump, because I certainly could run on that probably better than anyone. I think they should run on their track record, and I think they should run on their own platform — and what they’re going to do for the people and the businesses of Georgia.”
I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of Greene when she first came to Congress. I thought she was too much of a flamethrower, but she has grown and matured over the years. She can still sometimes say and do some cringey things, but she’s a solid MAGA fighter. I still don’t know how she would do as governor (I lean toward Carr right now), but I do think she can continue to fight no matter what arena she’s in.
As much as we’ve celebrated the historic 2024 election, there’s still work to be done. 2026 will be here before you know it, which means that we need to get ready to hold on to and expand our GOP majority at the federal and state levels.
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