(Left) Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones speaks at an event hosted in Peachtree City, Ga., on Aug. 21, 2025. (Right) Rick Jackson, Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks at his election night watch party in Atlanta on May 19, 2026. Megan Varner, Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
SAVANNAH, Ga.—Peach State voters sent two Republican candidates, President Donald Trump-endorsed Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, to a runoff in Georgia’s gubernatorial primary contest on May 19.
Jones and Jackson received 37 percent and 34 percent of the vote, respectively, when the Associated Press called the runoff at 8:50 p.m. ET, failing to garner more than 50 percent of the vote in what became a costly contest for the GOP field.