(Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Thursday he will seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.
Carr made the announcement on his personal X page, which also included a link to his campaign website.
“As a proven conservative, building on the legacy of Brian Kemp, Nathan Deal and Sonny Perdue, I’m running to create jobs for hardworking Georgians, keep our families and our neighborhoods safe, and vigorously defend our constitution and our freedoms,” Carr said in the post.
Today, I filed paperwork to run for Governor in 2026.
As a proven conservative, building on the legacy of Brian Kemp, Nathan Deal and Sonny Perdue, I’m running to create jobs for hardworking Georgians, keep our families and our neighborhoods safe, and vigorously defend our… pic.twitter.com/j1aAWX3X22
— Chris Carr (@ChrisCarr_Ga) November 21, 2024
Kemp is term-limited and cannot run again.
Carr was first elected as attorney general in 2016. Prior to that, he served as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development under former Gov. Nathan Deal.
He also worked for the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson as his chief of staff.
Carr’s annoucnement is likely the opening salvo in what could be a tense primary battle with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Although both are Republicans, Carr, along with Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, has been inconsistent at best in supporting the “America First” agenda of President-elect Donald Trump.
Carr, while keeping a relatively low profile, has been a reluctant ally when it comes to enforcing election integrity, as the state has faced a barrage of attacks from activist organizations led by failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and bankrolled by dark-money groups linked to the Soros Foundation.
Trump notably made peace with Kemp during the 2024 election after their public feud in the wake of the disputed 2020 election, in which both Kemp and Raffensperger refused to examine widespread evidence of illegal ballot harvesting in Fulton County and elsewhere.
Jones, an outspoken Trump supporter, succeeded anti-Trump RINO Geoff Duncan in the state’s 2022 lieutenant gubernatorial election—vindication after Duncan stripped the former state legislator of his committees for petitioning Kemp to hold a special session and attempting to delay the certification of the 2020 election.
Several other candidates are speculated to join the race, but only one other has officially launched a campaign. Democrat Olu Brown announced his intentions in August.
Brown was formally the founding and lead pastor of Impact United Methodist Church in East Point, according to his campaign website.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
