ATLANTA — Leaving no daylight between himself and Donald Trump made Brian Jack the Republican nominee for Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, and the former political director in Trump’s White House isn’t changing approach as he faces Democratic underdog Maura Keller.
Six times during a half-hour Atlanta Press Club debate, Jack noted how he’d worked with Trump. The former Republican president has repeatedly endorsed Jack, including during a Tuesday speech in Atlanta.
Both major parties are contesting all 14 of Georgia’s congressional districts, where Republicans currently hold a 9-5 majority. In the next highest-profile race besides the 3rd, Republican Wayne Johnson is trying to unseat longtime incumbent Democrat Sanford Bishop in southwest Georgia’s 2nd District.
But with no other statewide races on the ballot, the presidential campaign overshadows all else in Georgia politics. Bishop and many other incumbents are spending more time campaigning for presidential nominees than fending off their own foes in districts that are even less competitive after a court-ordered redistricting in 2023.
When asked during the Sunday debate whether there was anything that he differed with Trump on — such as how Trump responded as a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Jack instead emphasized that voters should view electing him and Trump as a package deal to return to Trump’s policies on economic issues, immigration and public safety.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished together,” Jack said.
It’s a safe strategy for the 36-year-old Peachtree City native who worked for then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after Trump left office. The 3rd District hugs the Alabama state line from Carrollton south to Columbus and hooks east into Atlanta’s southern suburbs. It’s an open seat because incumbent Republican Drew Ferguson is retiring. Republicans typically win about two-thirds of the vote in the district, according to the Princeton Gerrymandering Project.
Keller, Jack’s Democratic opponent, is a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Fayetteville resident. She is running on a platform of abortion rights, better veterans services and higher wages.
“I am a common-sense candidate with common sense policies and I am respectfully asking for your vote,” Keller said during the debate. “Unlike my opponent — he only cares about one person, and that is Donald Trump and the extreme agenda that he has — I have been here for 28 years and I will make sure that my priority focus is you.”
Republicans had high hopes of defeating Bishop in 2022, but the Democrat cruised to a 16th term with 55% of the vote. The GOP’s Johnson, who worked in the U.S. Department of Education under Trump, pledges to focus on economic uplift in the 2nd District, which runs across 30 counties in southwest Georgia, stretching into Columbus and Macon.
“Why do you think people are going to be better off if they give you two more years in office than they have been for the past three decades?” Johnson asked rhetorically at an Atlanta Press Club debate where Bishop was absent.
Johnson proposes that the federal government provide subsidies so someone can buy a house with a monthly $1,000 payment and buy a car with a monthly $200 payment. He paints himself as moderate on abortion, but says Georgia’s ban on most abortions after fetal cardiac activity begins is “getting close to getting it semi-right.”
Bishop too calls himself a moderate, courting largely white farmers who drive the rural economy and supporting military bases. He focuses on legislative achievements and what his seniority helps him accomplish, touting the benefits of recent federal spending packages.
But the incumbent isn’t above some partisan red meat. While Johnson was debating Bishop’s empty podium in Atlanta on Sunday, Bishop was with former President Bill Clinton in Albany, rallying voters for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. There, Bishop painted the choice starkly, saying Republicans would “eliminate the Department of Education, cut Head Start, take over the Justice Department, make the president above the law. It’s good or evil. Forward or backward.”
Like Bishop, many other incumbents are prioritizing presidential politics. That’s certainly true of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is ignoring Democrat Shawn Harris in northwest Georgia’s 14th District. First-term incumbent Republican Mike Collins in the 10th District east of Atlanta is helping GOP candidates outside Georgia instead of campaigning against Democrat Lexy Doherty.
But at least they’re acknowledged as real Democrats. The party has disowned its nominee in the 11th District northwest of Atlanta. Katy Stamper, who won a Democratic primary, was a conservative activist when she went by another name. Democratic Party officials instead urge supporters to write in Tracey Verhoeven against incumbent Republican Barry Loudermilk.
In the 12th District around Augusta, Republican Rick Allen is seeking his sixth term against a familiar challenger — Liz Johnson, the Democratic nominee for the the third consecutive election. In coastal Georgia’s 1st District, Republican Buddy Carter is also vying for his sixth term against Democrat Patti Hewitt.
Other Democratic longshots include Bob Christian against incumbent Rich McCormick in the redrawn 7th District, Darrius Butler against incumbent Austin Scott in middle and south Georgia’s 8th District, and Tambrei Cash against incumbent Andrew Clyde in northeast Georgia’s 9th district.
Republicans also have longshot candidates. Democratic U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath and David Scott, who easily won primaries in sharply redrawn metro Atlanta districts, have easier general elections. McBath faces Republican Jeff Criswell in the 6th District and Scott faces Republican Jonathan Chavez in the 13th District.
In the 5th District in Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties, John “Bongo” Salvesen is vying against U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams. Longtime GOP activist Eugene Yu is running against Democrat Hank Johnson, whose 4th District now stretches from DeKalb County into southwestern Gwinnett County.
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Associated Press writer Charlotte Kramon contributed.
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