Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has earned the most coveted endorsements in GOP politics in his bid for Georgia Governor, with support from President Donald Trump.
In July, Gov. Brian Kemp said he and Trump would work together to select a candidate they could both rally behind, asking major donors to hold off until they had made a decision. Kemp has yet to name a candidate he endorses for Governor.
Trump announced his endorsement Monday, detailing how Jones has been an avid Trump supporter since the President first entered the political fray in 2015. The President further added that Jones “worked tirelessly” to help Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns.
“Burt was strongly committed to my Campaign in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and worked tirelessly to help us WIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He has been with us from the very beginning. I know his family well and have seen Burt tested at the most difficult levels and times.”
Jones took to social media after the announcement to tout the endorsement.
“We’re fighting for election integrity, lower taxes, and to secure Georgia values — and with Trump’s support, we’re just getting started,” Jones wrote. “President Trump’s support sends a message: Georgians want strong, conservative leadership.”
Jones was one of 16 Republicans who backed initiatives to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, pushing for the state to conduct a Special Session. Ultimately, former President Joe Biden won the Peach State in 2020 by more than 11,000 votes.
In the months that followed the election, Trump pressed Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the Georgia results, filing lawsuits alleging the state certified “illegal votes,” and continued to insist he won the election by “hundreds of thousands” of ballots.
Both Kemp and Raffensperger pushed back, with Kemp saying in an interview that while he understood Trump’s frustration, he had no choice but to sign off on the results because he had no legal power to overturn them.
“He’s a fighter,” Kemp said of Trump. “But at the end of the day, I’ve got to follow the laws of the constitution of this state and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
The only other Republican candidate currently vying for the party’s gubernatorial is Attorney General Chris Carr, after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ruled out a bid. Raffensberger could also still join the race.
On the Democratic side, several candidates are looking to replace Kemp, who is leaving office due to term limits. Candidates include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Rev. Olu Brown, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond.
