President Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp are entering Tuesday's Republican runoff elections as both allies and rivals — backing the same candidate in the governor's race while opposing each other in a closely watched U.S. Senate contest.
Trump endorsed Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in the Senate runoff with a lengthy social media post Sunday, undercutting Kemp's support for former football coach Derek Dooley.
At the same time, both Trump and Kemp have lined up behind Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican gubernatorial runoff against businessman Rick Jackson.
The split has renewed attention on the complicated relationship between Trump and Kemp, whose alliance fractured after the 2020 election but who remain two of the most influential figures in Georgia Republican politics.
Despite the competing endorsements, Republican strategist Ryan Mahoney dismissed suggestions that the Senate race represents a direct battle between the two leaders.
"People want to make this like a Trump versus Kemp war because that makes for good headlines, but I don't think Georgia voters see it that way," Mahoney told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
"They're aligned on one race, and they're on different sides on the other end, and that's fine," added Mahoney.
In the governor's race, Jones entered the runoff with Trump's backing and support from much of the Republican establishment. Kemp formally endorsed Jones in the final days of the campaign, arguing he is the party's strongest candidate against Democrat nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms.
"I've said all along my whole goal during this whole primary and runoff season was to make sure that we win in November, keep our state moving in the right direction, because the alternative of Keisha Lance Bottoms to that is just unacceptable," Kemp said Monday.
Republican operatives say the governor's race has overshadowed the Senate contest, fueled by Jackson's more than $100 million in self-funded spending.
"It is taking over everything," one Republican consultant told the outlet on condition of anonymity, adding that the Senate race "almost never comes up" in conversations with voters.
Still, some Republicans believe Dooley has gained momentum with Kemp's support in the runoff's closing days.
"I do get the sense that Dooley is moving," another anonymous Republican operative said, citing Kemp's statewide campaigning on Dooley's behalf.
With polling showing both races within the margin of error, Mahoney described the contests as highly competitive.
"It's basically a coin flip going into Election Day," he said.
The Senate runoff has also exposed frustration among Republicans over a lengthy primary campaign as Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., continues to build a fundraising advantage ahead of November.
"There's not a good reason why this thing has dragged out for a year only to end up right where it was a year ago," one Republican strategist said.
Regardless of the outcomes, Mahoney said neither Trump nor Kemp is likely to see their influence diminished within the state party.
"Brian Kemp and Donald Trump are still going to be wildly popular, and people are still going to want those endorsements," Mahoney said. "It's not going to impact that at all."
He also highlighted Kemp's standing among Georgia Republicans.
"People in this state love their governor," Mahoney said. "He'll go down as the most popular governor in history."
Tuesday's results will determine Republican nominees for governor and Senate while providing an early measure of the relative strength of Trump's MAGA movement and Kemp's statewide political organization in one of the nation's key battleground states.