ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday that he will not run for the U.S. Senate next year, turning down a Republican nomination that was his for the taking and throwing the race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff wide open.
In a post on social media, the two-term GOP governor said friends, supporters, and Republican leaders across the country have encouraged him in recent weeks to challenge Ossoff.
“After those discussions, I have decided that being on the ballot next year is not the right decision for me and my family,” Kemp wrote. “I spoke with President Trump and Senate leadership earlier today and expressed my commitment to work alongside them to ensure we have a strong Republican nominee who can win next November, and ultimately be a conservative voice in the U.S. Senate who will put hardworking Georgians first.”
Kemp has been widely considered the potential Republican nominee with by far the best chance of defeating Ossoff. Other possible GOP hopefuls have been waiting in the wings to see what Kemp will do before deciding whether to enter the race.
Ossoff was elected to a six-year term in the Senate in a January 2021 runoff, defeating incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue. In light of Kemp’s reelection win in 2022 and Trump’s victory in Georgia last year, Ossoff has been considered the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate this election cycle.
Democrats jumped on the news as a major setback for the Republican Party.
“Brian Kemp’s decision to not run for Senate in 2026 is yet another embarrassing Republican Senate recruitment failure as they face a building midterm backlash where every GOP candidate will be forced to answer for Trump’s harmful agenda,” said Maeve Coyle, spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Senate Republicans’ toxic agenda and recruitment failures put their majority at risk in 2026.”
Republicans had been counting on a Kemp victory in Georgia to help build the party’s majority in the Senate, where the GOP holds 53 of the 100 seats.
Without Kemp in the race, Ossoff looks like a strong candidate for a second term. The Democrat’s campaign raised more than $11 million during the first quarter of this year, the most ever raised by a Senate incumbent in the first three months of an off-year.