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President Donald Trump’s political team and top advisers for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp seem to be on the same page when it comes to Republican Senate primary elections in major southeast battlefield states.
The race is important for Republicans who are aiming to expand their Senate majority as Senator John Ossoff, who is running for reelection in a state where Trump was narrowly carried in last year’s election, is considered the most vulnerable Democrat seeking reelection in the mid-term elections next year.
Kemp, a popular two-term conservative governor who Trump had been heavily criticised in the past, was courted by the National Republicans to take on Ossov. However, the limited period Kemp announced earlier this year that he would pass the 2026 Senate run.
Trump’s political trajectory in Georgia and Republican sources confirm there is an agreement between the president’s political tactics and Kemp’s political team, and that they will work together to find a unified candidate to take on Ossoff in the Senate.
First on FOX: Trump House Allies to commence Senate bids next week on Key Battleground State
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Republican Governors Association Conference held in Washington, DC on February 20, 2025 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
These sources also confirm that Kemp and Trump, the ultimate kingmakers of GOP politics, met two weeks ago to discuss Senate race in Georgia.
But when the governor named Derek Dooley, a former University of Tennessee soccer coach, a source close to the president’s political team said, “I was told to stop because Trump’s team wasn’t ready to move forward by anyone.”
And when Kemp and his team moved forward with Dooley, it disrupts Trump’s advisors. Trump’s adviser, sources said, was “already pretty frustrated” when Kemp took on Ossov in Senate race earlier this year.
Popular GOP Governor Passes Senate Bids in 2026
“We had a deal to work together,” Trump Orbit’s top political source told Fox News on Friday. “Kemp went out on his own. It made me irritated and pissed off Trump’s orbit.”
According to sources, “The best option for the Georgia GOP is Brian Kemp, and unfortunately he chose the path of the underdogs.
“The operation that brought victory in Georgia was not a fake operation, but a Trump organization. It’s hard to see them gather behind the blind ambitions of people who are more interested than 2026 or 2028,” he said in a reference to KEMP’s potential interest in seeking Republican presidential nomination in 2028.
Donald Trump will shake hands with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday, October 4, 2024, after speaking at a temporary relief shelter while visiting a Hurricane Helen-affected area in Evans, Georgia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
However, a source close to the governor told Fox News that it was virtually untrue that they were told to stand up to Dooley.
And sources added that it was as it was, meaning that Kemp said he wanted to work with the president and his team.
Kemp’s political team first floated a doolery trial balloon about two months ago. A longtime Georgia-based Republican strategist said Peaches’ reaction among Republicans was “very negative.”
Dooley, the son of Vince Dooley, a former university football coach at Georgia University, is close to longtime friend Kemp.
And Dooley hired two top political advisers for KEMP to support his potential Senate campaign.
A Republican source in Georgia said Dooley’s decision on whether he will run could come as soon as next week.
Republican Rep. Mike Collins, a Trump alliance and supporter in the House, will announce his candidacy for the Senate next week, a knowledgeable source told Fox News Digital on Friday.
Fox News has learned that Georgia Rep. Mike Collins will launch a Senate campaign next week in a race with Democratic Sen. John Ossoff. (Bill Clark)
Buddy Carter, a Republican lawmaker who has represented Georgia’s coastal districts for a decade, began Senate elections in the spring.
Georgia Insurance Secretary John King also announced the run, but the bid ended on Thursday.
Trump and Kemp have a turbulent political history.
Trump supported the then Secretary of State, who successfully made the 2018 governor’s campaign.
But two years after his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden, including a thin razor defeat in Georgia, Trump attacked Kemp for not overturning his state’s election results.
Trump lowered criticism in 2022 after Kemp crushed the former senator Trump was the primary GOP governor of the state.
Kemp speaks after Trump flips and praises Georgia governor
But last summer, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump gave Kemp a 10-minute tillard at a rally in Atlanta, just a block from the Georgia State Capitol. Not only did Trump not overturn the 2020 vote count, but he also accused the governor of not stopping county prosecutors from indicting the former president in an attempt to reverse the outcome.
Trump quickly changed Kemp’s song a few days later, saying, “For all his help and support in Georgia, he praised the governor in a social media post, where victory is extremely important to our party and most importantly, our country’s success.”
Brian Kemp, the then-Governor candidate for the Georgia Republican gubernatorial, will walk with President Donald Trump when Trump arrives for a rally in Macon, Georgia. (AP)
In a digital interview with Fox News days later, Kemp downplayed Trump’s Tillard against him, calling it a “small distraction of the past.”
As Dooley approaches the start of the campaign, Collins is a few days after he declared his candidacy.
Collins, a businessman who founded the trucking company, is in his second term representing Georgia’s 10th Congressional District.
The conservative lawmaker, the son of late Georgia Republican Rep. Mac Collins, has been nearing the start of Senate elections for weeks.
Collins was an early supporter of the president, and supported Trump when he first ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 cycle.
Earlier this year, Collins reintroduced the Laken Riley Act, which requires undocumented immigrants charged with robbery or theft to be detained. It was named after the incident attracted public attention when a Georgia nursing student was killed by a man who had entered the United States illegally.
The bill, which quickly passed the Republican-controlled House and Senate, became the first law signed into law by Trump when he began his second White House mission.
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Republican sources said Collins has “a great relationship” with the president and his political team.
And the Georgia-based Republican consultant told Fox News, “The lane where Mike is about to run is an American fighter who was with President Trump.
Carter also calls for Trump’s support at GOP Primary.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in swing state in New Hampshire. He covers campaign trails from coast to coast. ”
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