Rick Jackson is rebuilding the ‘Kemp machine,’ and supercharging it

In an exclusive interview, Walker said that Jackson will use a data-and-analytics strategy similar to the one that powered Kemp to victory. In fact, the Jackson campaign already used it to defeat Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the June runoff.

“We did it in 2022, and without going into detail, it is targeted toward people who don’t want to show up for elections, and people who we are trying to persuade to show up for elections,” Walker said. “They get concierge service throughout the entire campaign. Those people will hear from us on a daily basis, and we don’t stop until Election Day.”

Winning campaigns require both tangible and intangible advantages. Kemp could only have swept the 2022 elections the way he did with a combination of his sophisticated campaign operation and an independent message Georgians wanted to hear.

“There is a nontraditional group of voters that are about to get our service,” Walker said. “They got it in 2022 and it started (this cycle) two weeks ago. The story of Rick Jackson is going to reverberate with those voters. In fact, it already has.”

Kemp’s 2022 campaign was unique at the time for the tens of millions of dollars he was able to raise independent of the Georgia GOP. That’s because the “leadership committee” structure in Georgia law allows certain statewide nominees to raise unlimited money.

The Jackson campaign’s resources will be even more unlimited, if that’s possible, thanks to the candidate’s own deep pockets. Think of it as the Kemp machine on steroids. Jackson spent at least $108 million in the GOP primary and has said he’s prepared to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat the Democratic nominee, Keisha Lance Bottoms. They’ve let other Republican campaigns in the state know their general election strategy is designed to help GOP candidates up and down the ballot.

Garrison Douglas, a former Kemp spokesperson who now works for Jackson, predicted the scope of the campaign will make Democrats “long for the days of 2022.”

“Governor Kemp did exactly what was needed for Georgia to stay red in 2018 and 2022,” he said. “Rick Jackson’s campaign is going to do that exact same thing in 2026, and that means going even bigger and even better.”

Although Jackson’s resources are likely to dwarf the Democrats’ spending, it’s clear he’s going to need all the help he can get in a year when President Donald Trump’s unpopularity could be a significant drag on Republicans in November. There are also lingering divisions among Georgia Republicans from Jackson’s bruising primary against Jones.

In an interview last week with the AJC’s “Politically Georgia” podcast, Jones told us he hasn’t decided if he’ll even vote for Jackson. “We’ll see,” he said.

Like Kemp’s 2022 campaign, the Jackson strategy is totally separate from the Georgia GOP. Josh McKoon, chair of the Georgia GOP, said the party will do whatever it can to support the ticket, including Jackson.

“Our focus is going to be on having as much paid staff as possible to organize our grassroots and turnout our vote,” he said.

Although McKoon has not heard back from Jackson since he became the party’s nominee, he said there’s plenty of time for Republicans to unite.

“It’s just July, so there’s plenty of time to make sure that you get everybody together and we’re all rowing in the same direction,” he said.

In the meantime, Democrats have been having fun with the lingering Jackson-Jones animus and plan to exploit any divisions as much as possible.

“Georgia’s No. 2 Republican is openly attacking Rick Jackson and Republican activists are lining up to admit how alienated they’ve felt by the Jackson campaign,” said Jake Strickland, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “That’s not how you win statewide. Democrats are united behind Keisha Lance Bottoms and are on offense — that’s how we’re going to win in November.”

A crucial Republican figure in all of this is Kemp himself, who plans to campaign with Jackson as November approaches. Although he endorsed Jones days ahead of his runoff against Jackson, Kemp spokesperson Cody Hall said that’s all in the past for Kemp.

“It’s critically important to the governor that our state continues the successes of 24 years of Republican leadership,” Hall said. “That’s why he’ll be working hard to elect Rick Jackson and defeat Keisha Lance Bottoms.”

For their part, the Jackson camp considers the GOP fully united and is moving forward to do whatever it takes — and spend whatever it costs — to convince Republicans and plenty of nontraditional voters to come out for Jackson in November just like they came out for Kemp four years ago.

“The ‘Kemp machine’ was built out of necessity,” Walker said. “We figured out better ways to do it and better people to go after and it showed in 2022 ... . We’re trying to replicate that this year.”