Burt Jones enters race for Georgia governor

Published 11:13 am Tuesday, July 8, 2025

ATLANTA – Lt. Gov. Burt Jones announced Tuesday he’s running for governor, a long anticipated move that sets up a primary race next year among Republican heavyweights.

Jones, a former state senator from Butts County, posted his first campaign video on YouTube, touting Georgia’s accomplishments in recent years under Republican rule and laying out his stands on key issues moving forward.

“Today, I see a Georgia where families are prospering, a Georgia where businesses are moving here and growing here, a Georgia where our families are safer thanks to tougher crime laws, and our schools strengthened thanks to empowering parents’ rights,” Jones said as he drove along in a pickup truck.

“Working for the families of Georgia, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has brought real conservative leadership that protects our freedom, our values, and our families,” a narrator intones.

If elected governor, Jones vowed to eliminate the state income tax and end fentanyl overdoses in Georgia through tougher penalties and stepped-up efforts to educate Georgia’s young people on the dangers of illegal drugs.

Jones represented Middle Georgia’s 25th Senate District for a decade before being elected lieutenant governor in 2022. An executive in a family-owned oil company, the 2002 graduate of the University of Georgia co-captained the Bulldogs football team that year to its first Southeastern Conference championship in 20 years.

Jones’ campaign video touts his ties to President Donald Trump. Jones was investigated for alleged involvement in attempts to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election but was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

The lieutenant governor is the second Republican to enter the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced his candidacy last November.

Democrats vying for their party’s gubernational nomination include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and former pastor Olujimi Brown.

In a prepared statement, Georgia Democratic Chairman Charlie Bailey accused Jones of “failed leadership” that doesn’t deserve a promotion to governor.

“Georgia has a top-ten ranking for rural hospital closures, a top-five ranking for uninsured rates, a bottom-half ranking for every metric that measures our kids’ educational opportunities, and a tax code that rewards billionaires, big corporations, and the latest lobbyist to buy him a steak and a bourbon,” Bailey wrote.