Trump-Endorsed Candidate Brian Kemp Wins GOP Nomination For Georgia Governor’s Race

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday.

During his celebratory speech, he thanked a number of his supporters — most notably, the President of the United States.

“But we cannot forget that tweet that we heard around Georgia. I want to give a big thanks to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence,” said Kemp. The candidate was originally falling behind in the primary run-off before receiving Trump’s endorsement via Twitter.

Pence also praised the candidate, claiming he would bring “the same type of leadership that Trump brought to the White House.”

Kemp had previously stirred controversy over his campaign ad in which he held a gun and pointed it at a young man, who claimed to be interested in one of his daughters, for the entirety of the video. In another ad, Kemp parades himself as a “politically incorrect conservative,” and proudly claims he has “a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself.”

He also used his speech as an opportunity to denounce his “out-of-touch, radical, liberal” opponent, Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. With the support of Democrat bigwigs like Hillary Clinton, Abrams has the potential to become the nation’s first black female governor. Kemp attacked such endorsements, painting his opponent as a pawn to “liberal special interests” who is systematically supported by the “fake-news media machine.”

The governor’s election will be one to watch as it serves as a proxy for how the state will sway in the upcoming presidential election. In 2016, Trump beat Clinton by just under six percentage points — an unexpectedly close outcome in a traditionally red state. Now, the battle for governor is posed to show just how far the state has shifted left in recent years.