Popular GOP Gov. Brian Kemp passes on 2026 Senate run in battleground Georgia

Two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was the GOP’s top Senate recruit in battleground Georgia in next year’s midterm elections, announced on Monday that he is passing on launching a campaign.

“Over the last few weeks, I have had many conversations with friends, supporters, and leaders across the country who encouraged me to run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. I greatly appreciate their support and prayers for our family. After those discussions, I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family,” Kemp said in a social media post.

The popular conservative governor, who is term-limited and prevented from seeking re-election in 2026, was the GOP’s dream candidate to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is considered vulnerable, as Republicans aim to expand their 53-47 Senate majority next year.

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Ossoff, who is running for a second, six-year term in the Senate after flipping the seat with a razor-thin victory in a January 2021 runoff election, is a top target of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in a state that President Donald Trump narrowly carried last November.

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“Republicans have a number of strong candidates who can build a winning coalition to add this seat to President Trump’s Senate Majority,” NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez told Fox News in a statement.

Kemp, in his social media post, said that he “spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November.”

The governor, who had been courted to run for the Senate for months, told Fox News Digital in a February interview while he was in the middle of Georgia’s legislative session that “I know I can’t keep holding out forever, so we’ll have something to say on that down the road.”

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Kemp, who is currently chair of the Republican Governors Association, also emphasized that “we need to flip that seat. We should have a Republican in that seat, and I believe we’ll have one after the ’26 election.”

But with Kemp out of the picture, the GOP faces the prospect of a crowded and potentially divisive primary that could include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump supporter in the House who enjoys massive name recognition but is seen by pundits as too toxic to court crucial independent voters needed to win the general election.

Among the other Republicans who have expressed interest in running if Kemp bowed out are Reps. Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Rich McCormick, and state Insurance Commissioner John King.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee highlighted Kemp’s announcement.

“Brian Kemp’s decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump’s harmful agenda. Senate Republicans’ toxic agenda and recruitment failures put their majority at risk in 2026,” DSCC communications director Maeve Coyle said in a statement.