What’s taking Republicans so long to announce bid for Ga. governor?
ATLANTA, Ga. - With still over a year to go until the election for Georgia’s 84th governor, the field is already shaping up — just far more on one side of the ticket than the other.
Three-quarters of the candidates who have declared their run for the governor’s mansion are Democrats. Last month, Atlanta-area State Senator Jason Esteves became the Keisha Lance Bottoms and East Point Methodist Rev. Olu Brown.
Only Georgia’s sitting Attorney General Chris Carr has declared on the Republican side, and he was the first candidate of either political party to take the leap.
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After Gov. Brian Kemp’s announcement that he would not run for a Georgia Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, several candidates rushed to throw their hat in the ring, including U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter of the Savannah area and state Insurance Commissioner John King. But things have remained quiet on the GOP side for governor, and there’s a theory as to why.
“I think what everyone on the Republican side now is waiting on is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to make his announcement,” said Georgia political strategist Brian Robinson. “That is certainly anticipated, that is what is expected.”
Robinson was a top advisor and spokesman for former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and suspects Carr jumped into the race as early as possible to fundraise. Jones, whose family owns the successful Jones Petroleum Company out of Jackson, will likely be able to handle that on his own.
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“I think Burt Jones is just biding his time,” said Robinson. “Carr is someone who is going to have to go out there and raise the funds to compete. Burt Jones, presumably, will be able to write a check to get his campaign started from personal funds – not a luxury that Chris Carr had.”
The field, Robinson suspects, may not get much bigger than that on the GOP side. Many political insiders who toyed with the idea of running have backed off of those sentiments, leaving a potentially minuscule primary.
“We may not see any more of those people get into that race,” said Robinson. “It may be the attorney general and the lieutenant governor who are sparring in the governor’s race for the Republican nomination.”
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