Billionaire businessman Rick Jackson won the Republican primary runoff in Georgia\u2019s race for governor, NBC News projects, defeating President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsed candidate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jackson, a healthcare executive and first-time candidate who poured more than $100 million of his own money into his campaign, will face Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms in the November general election in the battleground state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With most of the expected vote tallied, Jackson led Jones 53% to 47%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contest, which went to a runoff after neither Jackson nor Jones won 50% of the vote in the May 19 primary, boiled down to a fierce battle for the MAGA base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Jackson, that took on the form of comparing himself in ads and on the stump to Trump, painting himself as a political outsider \u2014 even though he didn\u2019t have Trump\u2019s official support. For Jones, that meant leaning heavily into highlighting Trump\u2019s \u201ccomplete and total endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But ultimately, the support from Trump \u2014 which first came in August and was reiterated in tele-rallies and social media posts \u2014 wasn\u2019t enough. Jones is only the second Trump-backed candidate to lose a Republican primary for governor this election cycle as he has sought to put his stamp on the party across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An eleventh-hour endorsement from outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp on Sunday night, days after early voting had closed, also failed to lift Jones to victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his victory speech in Atlanta, Jackson leaned into his personal story, highlighting how he overcame fleeing abusive parents and living in the state foster care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to feel like nobody sees you, especially the elite and the powerful,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWhen you grow up the way I did, you never forget where you came from. You never forget the families who are working harder than ever, but still falling behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also took aim at Bottoms, saying that his general election opponent \u201cwould be an absolute disaster for Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Jones said in his concession speech that, \u201cthe sun will come up tomorrow,\u201d adding that \u201cthere is a life after politics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither candidate mentioned Trump or Kemp in their speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Jackson unexpectedly jumped into the race in February \u2014 six months after Jones did \u2014 Jackson pummeled Georgia\u2019s airwaves with ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jackson spent nearly three times as much on ads as Jones did since the beginning of the year and nearly four times as much since the initial primary last month, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One cast Jackson as \u201cthe straight-talking, Trump-supporting self-made outsider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike President Trump, I don\u2019t owe anybody anything, and like you, I\u2019m sick of career politicians,\u201d Jackson said in another ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In interviews ahead of Tuesday\u2019s runoff, many Georgia voters said his having a background and a style that were similar to Trump\u2019s helped sway them down the stretch to vote for Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jackson was also endorsed by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who held campaign events with him on the eve of the runoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRick\u2019s rich,\u201d Cruz said Monday. \u201cRick doesn\u2019t have to do this. He could sit back and play golf all day long and never have to enter this fray.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Cruz\u2019s endorsement puts him at odds with Trump, he hinted at Jackson\u2019s similarities with the president. \u201cAn outsider, a businessman. I don\u2019t know anyone in politics like that,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Monday afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. praised Jackson on X as being among \u201cthe patriots building up MAGA and an America First economy.\u201d He stopped short of formally endorsing Jackson but said that regardless of who won the primary, it would be a \u201cvictory for MAGA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Georgia\u2019s Senate race, Trump\u2019s endorsed candidate, Rep. Mike Collins, defeated former football coach Derek Dooley in the Republican primary runoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s continued fixation on the 2020 election also loomed over the GOP gubernatorial primary in Georgia, which initially also included Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jones was on the alternate slate of presidential electors who cast votes for Trump at the state Capitol after an official tally confirmed Joe Biden\u2019s 2020 victory. Raffensperger rejected Trump\u2019s plea to \u201cfind\u201d more votes in Georgia after the election, while Carr repeatedly said there was no widespread voter fraud in the state, earning the wrath of Trump. (Carr later endorsed Jackson after he didn\u2019t advance to the runoff.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a tele-rally Thursday night, Trump lauded Jones for being a \u201cfanatic when it came to election fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe battled very strongly, tooth and nail, frankly, for the election integrity in your state,\u201d Trump said on the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jackson\u2019s race against Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta who also served in the Biden administration, will be one of the marquee governor\u2019s races this fall. Even as Georgia has emerged as a key battleground in recent federal elections, the state\u2019s voters last elected a Democratic governor in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n