New reporting from the AJC today reveals that many GOP leaders and party activists are “openly skeptical” of Rick Jackson’s campaign for governor, following one of the nastiest Republican primary feuds in recent state history that exposed a lot of the baggage that Jackson carries into this general election.
And in the “clearest sign the rift hasn’t healed,” Burt Jones has still not endorsed Jackson – and is now openly questioning whether he can even win in November.
This comes as Jackson has been absent on the campaign trail, with the AJC writing that his absence from one GOP unity event was “hard to miss” and that he has “had no public campaign events, rallies or town halls” since becoming the nominee. Keisha Lance Bottoms, on the other hand, “has kept up her own public schedule”.
Read more from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Key excerpts:
- “The billionaire executive spent more than $110 million of his own money to win the nomination in one of the most brutal Republican primaries in modern Georgia history for the chance to take on Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.”
- “But the days after his victory also exposed a deeper question confronting Republicans: Can a wealthy outsider who beat the favorite of some of the party’s most dedicated activists now persuade them to fight for him in November?”
- “That question was front-and-center at the Georgia GOP’s post-runoff unity rally, a rodeo fundraiser in Perry where U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins and other statewide contenders worked the crowd. Jackson’s absence was hard to miss.”
- “The race was so personal that some Republicans worry the usual post-runoff calls for unity may not be enough. Even as other party leaders lined up behind Jackson, Jones has remained conspicuously neutral, and some of his supporters remain openly skeptical.”
- “‘If he wants the grassroots back, he will have to do what current leadership refuses to do: listen to the conservatives this party has alienated and give them a seat at the table,” said Kylie Jane Kremer, an activist who backed Jones. “Unity cannot be demanded. It has to be earned.’”
- “Their rivalry went far beyond the normal mudslinging and name-calling of a campaign for governor. Even seasoned Georgia political operatives struggle to recall another statewide primary that became this personal, expensive and legally fraught.”
- “The two remain locked in dueling defamation lawsuits that could keep them battling through the election. Jones’ allies are also still smarting over a $19 million ad blitz from a shadowy group that spent months attacking him. Jackson has repeatedly said he did not pay for the group, but the barrage helped soften the ground for his campaign.”
- “Perhaps the clearest sign the rift hasn’t healed: Jones has not endorsed Jackson, nor has he been asked to do so. The lieutenant governor sounds ready to put politics behind him entirely.”
- “Some Republicans expect Jackson’s GOP skeptics to put down their guard and rally behind the nominee. […] Others are less certain. Alex Johnson, a leader of the far-right Georgia Republican Assembly, said Jackson’s runoff win doesn’t automatically earn the ‘unquestioning loyalty’ from the party faithful.”
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