Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The MAGA takeover of the Georgia GOP is nearly complete.<\/p>\n
The old-guard of the Republican Party in Georgia has fallen after withstanding MAGA\u2019s furor since 2020, replaced by a new breed of candidates \u2014 up and down the ballot \u2014 closely aligned with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Trump allies marched on: Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones clinched a spot in the gubernatorial runoff<\/a> on Tuesday alongside billionaire Rick Jackson, who told supporters<\/a> he\u2019d govern like the president \u201cwith a southern tone.\u201d In the GOP Senate primary, Rep. Mike Collins, a staunch MAGA ally, advanced to a runoff<\/a>. And House candidates Jim Kingston, Houston Gaines and Clay Fuller won their races by wide margins, boosted by the president\u2019s endorsement.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, longtime Trump antagonists \u2014 especially those who denied the 2020 election was \u201cstolen\u201d \u2014 lost their primary battles: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr and Gabriel Sterling, a former top Raffensperger aide.<\/p>\n The results offered the clearest sign yet that Georgia Republican voters increasingly want their political future tied to Trump-style politics and messaging \u2014 a shift in one of the nation\u2019s premier battlegrounds that could shape elections in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s key to success in a Republican primary in Georgia today to either have the president’s endorsement or be able to make the case to voters that you’re certainly a Trump-aligned candidate,\u201d said Georgia Republican Party chair Josh McKoon, a loyal Trump ally.<\/p>\n Candidates like Raffensperger may now be \u201crelics of the past,\u201d said Chip Lake, a longtime Republican strategist who helped Jones\u2019 campaign. \u201cThat doesn’t mean they’re bad human beings, it just means that their style of politics is not consistent today with where the base of the party is.\u201d<\/p>\n But hugging Trump that tightly in the primary has proved lethal for some Republicans in the general election, and Democrats in Georgia hope 2026 will echo the GOP\u2019s 2022 election losses.<\/a><\/p>\n The Republican Party in Georgia, like in other states, has been drifting more and more toward a full-throated populist approach during the Trump era. But the old guard led by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp (R) as well as Raffensperger and Carr managed to hold on through the 2022 midterm primaries against a number of Trump-backed challengers, delaying the hard MAGA takeover that occurred in many other states earlier on. The sharp shift this cycle comes as the GOP pushes for more resources and attention in the key swing state.<\/p>\n Now, some GOP strategists increasingly view aligning with Trump not just as an ideological litmus test, but as a practical necessity \u2014 especially as Trump\u2019s political operation sits on\u00a0 roughly $300 million in campaign funds.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt is good for the state of Georgia to choose these MAGA-aligned candidates in that the president has a huge war chest, and that war chest can be utilized for candidates that he likes,\u201d said one Georgia-based Republican strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly about the state\u2019s dynamics.<\/p>\n Across the state\u2019s marquee Senate and governor\u2019s primaries, the winning GOP candidates all embraced Trump\u2019s brand. The expensive and rancorous primary<\/a> for the governor\u2019s mansion quickly evolved into a contest over who best carried the MAGA mantle \u2014 Jones, who has the president\u2019s explicit support, or Jackson, who tried to convince voters that he, too, was closely aligned with Trump.<\/p>\n Trump has stayed out of the Senate primary so far, but the candidates still raced to align with his movement. Collins, a hardline immigration hawk and loyal Trump ally on Capitol Hill who appeared at a rally with Trump earlier this year, said that he is \u201cunapologetically Pro-God, Pro-Trump, Pro-2nd Amendment, Pro-Strong Military\u201d after advancing to the runoff.<\/p>\n Even former football coach Derek Dooley \u2014 Kemp\u2019s handpicked candidate who will face off against Collins in the June runoff \u2014 leaned into his status as an outsider (\u00e0 la Trump) and adopted a \u201cGeorgia First\u201d pitch.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven’t made any attempts to alienate Trump whatsoever. Derek supports the agenda. He’s made it clear through the debate and multiple interviews that he supports the president,\u201d said a senior Dooley adviser, who was granted anonymity to speak openly about the race, prior to Election Day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a notable gamble for a party that was punished during the 2022 midterms for nominating hardline MAGA candidates across the country \u2014 including former football star Herschel Walker for Georgia Senate \u2014 who later lost in key races. This midterms cycle appears to be trending much harder toward Democrats, given Trump\u2019s low approval ratings, voters\u2019 concerns with the economy and the unpopular war in Iran.<\/p>\n Democrats are more than eager to tie Republicans to the president. Devon Cruz, a spokesperson for the Georgia Democratic Party, said in a statement that the Senate runoff will leave Collins and Dooley \u201cterminally inseparable\u201d from Trump.<\/p>\n Still, Tuesday\u2019s results underscored how Trump\u2019s dominance is increasingly shaping which Republicans can win statewide primaries in key races. And it\u2019s not just in Georgia.<\/p>\n Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has long been a thorn in the president\u2019s side<\/a>, lost his seat to a Trump-endorsed challenger in a bitter retributive campaign. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy was ousted<\/a> by the president\u2019s favored candidate. Trump vanquished a majority of the Indiana Republicans who bucked him on redistricting. And he finally backed<\/a> Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the Senate race after deeming Sen. John Cornyn to be an insufficient ally.<\/p>\n \u201cThe party has completely changed in 50 states,\u201d Lake, the Republican strategist, said. \u201cIt looks nothing like it did a decade ago, and it looks absolutely nothing like it did 15 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re a party that’s a lot different, that’s got a sharper focus, that’s willing to fight more, ” he added.<\/p>\n Raffensperger, who had become the biggest icon of standing up to the president, acknowledged to reporters following his loss that conspiracies about the 2020 election \u2013 despite no evidence to support any claims of fraud \u2013 helped tank his chances with Republican voters.<\/p>\n But he stopped short of blaming Trump\u2019s grip on the party on his failure to advance in the runoff: \u201cI just think terms are up, and so it’s a changing of the guard and turning over a new leaf,\u201d he told reporters after his election loss. \u201cWe’ll have new people with new plans, new hopes, new visions, and we’re going to see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n