Former President Donald Trump’s adviser Brian Jack is set to become Georgia‘s next congressman after declaring victory over former state Sen. Mike Dugan in a Republican runoff on Tuesday.
The KeynoteUSA called the race shortly before 8 pm on Election Day. With fewer than 14,000 votes counted, Jack garnered about 65% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Jack will face Fayetteville Democrat Maura Keller, a nuclear medicine technologist, in the Nov. 8 general election. Jack is the heavy favorite to win in the conservative western Georgia district, which includes some of the southern suburbs of Atlanta and the northern suburbs of Columbus and stretches west to the Alabama border.
Jack’s yard signs and television ads prevalent in the district promote his association and endorsement by former President Donald Trump.
Brian Jack speaks at the June 13 grand opening of the Trump Force 47 office in Fayette County. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder
Trump endorsed his former White House political director early in the race and renewed his support Monday on Truth Social.
“Brian is a man of loyalty, honesty and integrity, and he will never let down the fabulous people of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District,” Trump wrote. “He will fight tirelessly to secure our border, stop inflation, reduce taxes, support our great military/veterans, restore American energy dominance, and protect our Second Amendment, always under siege. Brian Jack has my complete and total endorsement – HE WILL NEVER DISKeynoteUSAPOINT YOU!
For some conservatives in northern Fayette County, that endorsement was enough to get the ballot out in Jack’s favor.
“Donald Trump backed it 100%, and I’m a 100% Donald Trump man,” said Rayford Cleghorn, a semi-retired grading contractor, who voted at Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone on Tuesday.
But other Jack voters, such as Bernard Richardson, a retired Navy chief, said Trump’s endorsement was not the deciding factor. Richardson said his biggest problem is immigration at the southern border.
“A lot of things are getting out of hand, too much, especially with the way the whole country is operating, with so many people involved,” he said. “We’re going in different directions, so we need someone to point us in the same direction that we can all agree on.”
Dugan voters cited his experience in the state Senate or his service as a U.S. Army Ranger.
“I liked the fact that all the local sheriffs in this area supported him, knowing that the sheriff’s office is probably the number one position that we should be aware of and vote for, it meant a lot to me, and he is a “ex-military.” said Scott Marchman, a project estimator and construction company manager who voted in Tyrone on Tuesday.
Marchman added that he would have no problem voting for Jack in the November election if Dugan lost.
With Tuesday’s victory, Jack is now set to replace Congressman Drew Ferguson, a Republican from The Rock, who was elected in 2016 and announced his plans to retire in December.
Ferguson was a solid conservative, but some of his more far-right constituents took issue with some of his votes. Last fall, during a battle for House speaker, Ferguson notably withdrew his support for Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan after Ferguson said he and his family had received death threats from allies of the House of Representatives. Jordan.
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