Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and businessman Rick Jackson have advanced to a runoff in the Republican primary for Governor of Georgia.

Jones and Jackson were the top-two vote getters in the primary, eliminating Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr.

The runoff will take place on June 16.

The Hill has more:

A candidate needed to win at least half of the vote outright to avoid a runoff. Recent polling showed Jackson in first place, with Jones in second, and neither contender surpassed 50 percent support on Tuesday.

Jones secured President Trump’s endorsement while Jackson spent at least $50 million of his own money to launch himself from a political unknown to a serious gubernatorial candidate in the Peach State.

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On the trail, Jackson leaned into his personal background — noting that he was raised by a single mother who grappled with alcoholism and was sent to multiple foster homes, but later turned these misfortunes into a multi-billion-dollar health care business. He’s also suggested that given his wealth, he wouldn’t be beholden to special interest groups and cast Jones as a “career politician.”

Meanwhile, Jones has leaned into Trump’s support and questioned Jackson’s conservative bonafides.

“Barely more than 100 days ago, we sent an earthquake through the political establishment when we entered the race. I think it’s safe to say, we shook the career politicians and insiders to their core. But the job is not done. We have four weeks to finish it. And the choice could not be more clear, or more important,” Jackson said.

“Burt Jones is a political insider who’s been in office 14 years, working inside the system for his own benefit, while promising tax relief and failing to deliver. I’m the opposite. I don’t owe the lobbyists anything. I don’t need the establishment’s permission. I cannot be bought, and I will not back down,” he added.

Early results showed an extremely competitive contest between Jones and Jackson.

NBC News shared further:

With 29% of the expected vote in, Jones was at 36.7% and Jackson was at 34.5%.

The field vying to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp also included Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state Attorney General Chris Carr.

Trump endorsed Jones just weeks after he launched his campaign, and many of his TV ads have highlighted that support.

But Jackson has pumped $80 million of his own money into ads since he launched his campaign in February, according to AdImpact, blanketing Georgia’s airwaves with so many ads that Republicans running for other offices in the state have struggled to attract attention in their own races.

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Jackson has also used many of his ads to compare himself to Trump — painting himself as a wealthy outsider, businessman and change agent.

“Like President Trump, I don’t owe anybody anything, and like you, I’m sick of career politicians,” Jackson says in one TV ad. In another, he casts himself as “the straight-talking, Trump-supporting self-made outsider” who “tells it like it is.”

Notably, soon after Jackson launched his campaign, some of his ads aired in media markets in Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home is located.

Still, in a tele-rally this month, Trump reiterated his support for Jones and squashed any speculation that Jackson’s flattery campaign could win him over.

 

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