Trump-backed Burt Jones loses Georgia governor runoff to Rick Jackson

Burt Jones went into Georgia’s Republican governor runoff with the president’s backing and came out defeated, as health care executive Rick Jackson converted a costly, bitter campaign into a victory that showed both the reach and the limits of Donald Trump’s endorsement power in the state. The Associated Press called the race for Jackson at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

The result followed the May 19 primary, when no Republican cleared 50% and Jones and Jackson advanced to a head-to-head runoff. Jones led that first round with about 38% of the vote, while Jackson followed with 33.9%, a gap that Jackson erased over the next month. Jackson will now face Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms in the November general election.

Jackson’s path reflected the scale of his financial advantage. He put more than $100 million of his personal wealth into the campaign, a level of spending that helped turn the governor’s race into one of the most expensive and bitter Republican contests in Georgia history. That money helped lift a candidate who was little-known to many voters earlier in the year into the final round and then past the state’s lieutenant governor.

Jones had tried to bank on Republican unity. Trump backed him early, and Gov. Brian Kemp added his support only two days before the runoff, a late endorsement that underscored how hard Georgia’s GOP leadership worked to stop Jackson. It was not enough. Jackson’s victory suggests that in a statewide race, money, name recognition, and local campaign dynamics can outweigh even a presidential endorsement when voters are already split.

The mixed results on Tuesday made that point even sharper. While Jones lost the governor’s race, Georgia Republicans also selected Rep. Mike Collins to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff in November, handing Trump at least one major win in the state’s runoff elections. The split outcome leaves Trump still powerful inside Georgia’s Republican coalition, but not all-powerful, especially when the candidate at the top of the ticket cannot lock down a divided primary electorate.