Burt Jones loans himself $10M to launch bid for Georgia governor

“What do I call all that we’ve accomplished together? Just a start,” Jones said in the video. “Because our work’s not done yet. And that’s why I’m running for governor.”

In a campaign filing Tuesday, Jones reported $14.3 million in his leadership committee, a Republican-backed fundraising tool that allows the governor, lieutenant governor and legislative leaders to raise unlimited cash. That total includes the $10 million self-loan and roughly $1.8 million in contributions between February and June.

That financial edge is one reason Republican Attorney General Chris Carr entered the race extraordinarily early, joining the campaign just weeks after the November election. Carr disclosed Monday that he’s raised more than $3.5 million so far.

“Burt Jones wants to buy the nomination rather than work to earn it,” Carr said in an interview. “Hardworking Georgians see through that, which is part of why I’m going to win the nomination.”

The contest to succeed a term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp is not likely to remain a two-person GOP race. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conservative firebrand, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she’s seriously considering a bid. So is Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a favorite of more centrist voters.

Credit: AJC

Credit: AJC

Democrats, meanwhile, hope to win the Governor’s Mansion for the first time since Roy Barnes in 1998. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and state Sen. Jason Esteves are the most prominent Democrats in the race, though more could join soon.

Jones is aiming to cement himself as the leading Republican candidate — and the front-runner for Trump’s endorsement. His allies have urged the president to give Jones his blessing, though it’s not immediately clear whether Trump will do so.

The Jackson Republican also can self-finance a part of his campaign, thanks to his family’s successful petroleum and insurance businesses. And he’s expected to argue he helped shape conservative policies over the past two years as president of the state Senate, where he had a say in dozens of laws.

Jones’ campaign platform includes promises to eliminate the state income tax, crack down on fentanyl abuse and battle illegal immigration. He also reinforced his support for a state ban on transgender girls from playing in high school and college girls sports.

“And if anyone doesn’t like that,” he said in his opening video, “they can move to California.”

‘The real swamp’

A former University of Georgia football captain, Jones was first elected to the state Senate in 2012 by toppling an incumbent Republican in his middle Georgia district.

He quickly established himself as a conservative favorite with ambitions for higher office, closely aligning with Trump during the 2016 campaign.

After Trump’s narrow 2020 loss in Georgia, Jones joined an amicus brief supporting Texas’ unsuccessful attempt to overturn Georgia’s results. He also called for a special session to probe the outcome — and lost his Senate chairmanship as a result.

He rebuilt his support over the next few years from the back benches of the Senate as he prepared for a 2022 campaign to replace retiring Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, his GOP nemesis.

With Trump’s endorsement, Jones captured the GOP nomination on promises to increase public safety funding, ban school mask mandates and clean up “the real swamp” in Atlanta. He went on to win a three-way contest in November for Georgia’s No. 2 job.

During the 2022 campaign, his Democratic opponent, Charlie Bailey, attacked Jones over his role as part of a slate of GOP electors under scrutiny by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis amid her election interference case.

But a state prosecutor ultimately declined to charge Jones in 2024, finding he “acted in a manner consistent with his position” as a lawmaker. Jones cast himself as a victim of a politicized prosecution.

Once in office, Jones established himself as an ally of Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns on many high-profile issues, including tougher sentencing laws, an overhaul of litigation rules and a school voucher expansion.

But he also carved out his own path, including allowing a 2023 Senate vote on Buckhead cityhood that Kemp opposed. Last year, he backed a hospital regulation overhaul that critics said benefits his family’s business — and which drew an early attack from Carr’s allies.

Throughout his tenure, he’s been a steadfast ally of Trump. He sanctioned efforts to punish Willis and backed legislation that would allow the president and his allies to recoup legal fees from the pending criminal case. More recently, he urged Congress to back Trump’s spending overhaul. Long before he entered the race, Jones made clear he planned to position himself as the most MAGA-friendly candidate — and cast Carr and other potential rivals as political squishes.

“I’ve taken all the battle scars and everything else. I know who ran and hid during 2020 and everything else. The circle was small,” Jones said to a crowd of hundreds of delegates at the Georgia GOP convention in June. “So if you want to run, run as yourself. Run on what you believe in. And I’m a big Trump supporter.”

Democrats predict that record will come back to haunt him.

“From abetting Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election to defending the Big Billionaire Bill that strips 750,000 Georgians of their health insurance, Burt Jones has proven that he has a whole lot to offer Donald Trump and absolutely nothing to offer the hardworking people of Georgia,” said Bailey, now the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Carr, meanwhile, said in an interview he’s unfazed by Jones’ entrance, arguing the race won’t be decided by “who can write the biggest check” but by which Republican can win both the primary and a general election. He said his campaign has long prepared for several GOP opponents.

Indeed, Jones’ ambition to run for governor was an open secret. So open, in fact, that several GOP allies recently announced plans to run for lieutenant governor without waiting for him to formally declare.

His long-anticipated push for higher office also shaped his actions during this year’s legislative session, which ended with his surprise move to adjourn the Senate hours earlier than expected — after advancing pieces of Trump’s agenda that targeted transgender rights, approved “religious liberty” legislation, and laid the groundwork for new fights over diversity programs and voting rules.

With his campaign announcement, Jones is keeping that combative style front and center.

“I don’t back down from tough fights,” he said. “I step up to deliver results. And that’s exactly what I’ll continue doing as governor.”