Raffensperger unveils bid for Georgia governor

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who rose to national prominence for rebuffing President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in his state, unveiled a bid for Georgia governor on Wednesday.

In his two-minute launch ad, Raffensperger sought to tout his conservative bona fides, noting how he took on fights with Democrats like former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and former President Biden and won. He also touched on the issues of parents’ involvement in education and transgender women competing in women’s sports in a nod to issues galvanizing the GOP base.

Raffensperger notably did not mention Trump by name in his ad. And while Raffensperger didn’t mention his efforts to fight back against the president’s pressure campaign to change the 2020 election results in the Peach State, which Biden narrowly won, he nodded to that challenge much more implicitly.

“I'm a conservative Republican, and I'm prepared to make the tough decisions,” Raffensperger said in the ad. “I follow the law and the Constitution, and I always do the right thing for Georgia, no matter what.”

Raffensperger joins Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) and state Attorney General Chris Carr (R) in what’s already become a heated GOP gubernatorial primary. All three candidates are looking to replace Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who is term-limited.

The primary is especially interesting given that, in contrast to Raffensperger and his posture over the 2020 election, Jones was one of more than dozen so-called "fake electors" who sought to overturn the election results in the state that cycle. Jones was not charged with any wrongdoing by prosecutors.

Meanwhile, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former GOP Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and former pastor Olu Brown are all running in the Democratic primary. Abrams could also join the field.

“Brad Raffensperger’s campaign launch injects a new level of chaos into what was already a messy primary – and is bad news for Burt Jones and Chris Carr," DGA spokesperson Kevin Donohoe said in a statement.

“With Raffensperger in, Republicans are set to be locked into a vicious primary between three candidates who all have a record of cheering on Donald Trump’s cost-raising, job-killing agenda, opposing Medicaid expansion, and stripping away reproductive freedoms. No matter who wins this primary, the Republican nominee will be badly damaged – and completely out of touch with Georgians.”

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Kemp’s seat a “toss up.”

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