Bullock says one reason none of the Republican Senate candidates have broken through is because of another high-profile statewide contest. “All the attention is going into the Republican gubernatorial primary, which is just sucking all the oxygen out,” he says.
That governor’s race—also likely headed to a runoff—has quickly turned into one of the nastiest governor’s races in the country this year. On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who has Trump’s endorsement, is locked in a bitter fight with healthcare executive Rick Jackson, who has poured millions of dollars of his own money into the campaign. The two have spent months attacking each other in television ads and debates, accusing one another of fraud, dishonesty, and ideological disloyalty to the MAGA movement. Polling suggests that race could also advance to a June runoff, potentially keeping Georgia Republicans consumed by intraparty warfare for weeks longer.
