Brian Kemp

Kemp declared his candidacy for State Senate District 47 when incumbent Ralph Hudgens planned to run for Congress in Georgia's 10th congressional district, but Hudgens instead ran for reelection, changing Kemp's plans.

Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American politician serving since January 2019 as the 83rd governor of Georgia.

Kemp went to the private Athens Academy until ninth grade, when he transferred to Clarke Central High School to play football for Billy Henderson; he graduated in 1983.

He later graduated from the University of Georgia, where he majored in agriculture.

Kemp was a home builder and developer before entering politics.

In 2002, he was elected to the Georgia State Senate.

He served as a Georgia State Senator from 2003 to 2007 after defeating the Democratic incumbent Doug Haines.

Kemp ran for commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture in 2006 but lost the Republican primary.

In 2006, Kemp ran for Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia.

He finished second in the primary, but lost the runoff to Gary Black.

A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the 27th secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to 2018, and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2007.

Kemp is a graduate of the University of Georgia.

Before entering politics, he owned several agribusinesses, financial services, and real estate companies.

In 2010, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Kemp secretary of state.

He was elected to a full term as secretary in 2010 and reelected in 2014.

In early 2010, Kemp was appointed Georgia Secretary of State by then-Governor Sonny Perdue.

Kemp won the 2010 election for a full term as secretary of state with 56.4% of the vote, to 39.4% for Democratic nominee Georganna Sinkfield.

Four years later, Kemp was reelected.

In 2015, Kemp was criticized after a data breach of over six million voters' personal information to 12 organizations.

During the 2016 election, he was the only state official to reject help from the Department of Homeland Security to guard against Russian interference.

Kemp rejects the conclusion by the United States Intelligence Community that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Amid Russian interference in the 2016 election, Kemp denounced the Obama administration's efforts to strengthen election system security, including improving access to federal cybersecurity assistance, calling the efforts an assault on states' rights.

As evidence mounted that Russian hackers were attempting to disrupt the 2016 elections, President Obama directed Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to work with states to secure their voting systems as "critical infrastructure."

Kemp was the only state election official to decline the help from Jeh Johnson.

In August 2016, amid Russian attempts to disrupt the 2016 elections, Kemp said that an intrusion by Russian hackers into voting systems was "not probable at all, the way our systems are set up" and accused federal officials of exaggerating the threat of Russian interference.

In a 2017 interview, he denounced the effort as an assault on states' rights, saying, "I think it was a politically calculated move by the previous administration" and "I don't necessarily believe" Russia had attempted to disrupt the elections.

Kemp ran for governor in 2018 and faced Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.

He refused to resign as secretary of state while campaigning for governor, which stirred controversy and accusations of abuse of power from Democrats.

Kemp narrowly won the general election and resigned as secretary of state shortly thereafter.

Abrams accused Kemp of voter suppression, which he denied.

News outlets and political science experts have found no evidence that voter suppression affected the result of the election.

In his first term as governor, Kemp opposed face mask mandates and stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and prohibited localities from implementing stricter public health measures than the state as a whole.

In the general election, Kemp defeated Abrams in a rematch by a wider margin than in 2018; she conceded defeat on election night.

Kemp was born in Athens, Georgia, the son of William L. Kemp II, into a prominent family with a history of political power.

Kemp's grandfather Julian H. Cox was a member of the Georgia Legislature.

After narrowly winning the 2018 gubernatorial election, Kemp resigned as secretary of state in anticipation of becoming governor.

After the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, he faced criticism from President Donald Trump for following the state law that required him to certify the results, despite Trump's repeated false claims of fraud in the election.

In 2021, Kemp signed into law the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which expanded early in-person voting and increased the state government's control over local election officials.

In his 2022 reelection campaign, Kemp was challenged by former U.S. Senator David Perdue in the Republican primary.

Although Trump endorsed Perdue, Kemp defeated Perdue in a landslide.