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Former Trump adviser set to become Georgia’s newest congressman representing western Georgia – Georgia Recorder

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Former President Donald Trump’s adviser Brian Jack is poised to become Georgia’s next congressman after declaring victory over former Sen. Mike Dugan in Tuesday’s GOP runoff election.

The Associated Press called the race shortly before 8 p.m. on Election Day. With fewer than 14,000 votes counted, Jack held about 65 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Jack will face Fayetteville Democrat Maura Keller, a nuclear medicine technologist, in the Nov. 8 general election. Jack is heavily favored to win in the conservative western Georgia district, which includes some southern Atlanta suburbs and northern Columbus suburbs and extends west to the Alabama border.

Jack’s yard signs and television ads prevalent across the District promote his association with and support of former President Donald Trump.

Brian Jack speaks at the June 13 official dedication of the Trump Force 47 office in Fayette County. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder

Trump threw his support behind his former White House political director early in the race and renewed his support Monday on Truth Social.

“Brian is a man of loyalty, honesty and integrity, and will never let down the fabulous people of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District,” Trump wrote. “He will fight tirelessly to secure our border, stop inflation, cut taxes, support our great military/veterans, restore American energy dominance, and protect our still-embattled Second Amendment. Brian Jack has my complete and total support – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! »

For some conservatives in northern Fayette County, that support was enough to get Jack to vote.

“Donald Trump supported him 100 percent, and I’m a Donald Trump man 100 percent,” said Rayford Cleghorn, a semi-retired grading contractor, who voted Tuesday at Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone.

But other Jack voters, like Bernard Richardson, a retired Navy chief, said Trump’s support was not the deciding factor. Richardson said his biggest problem is immigration at the southern border.

“A lot of things are getting out of control, just too out of control, especially given the way the whole country works, with so many people coming into it,” he said. “We’re going in all different directions, and so we need to find someone to point us in the same direction that we can all agree on.”

Dugan’s voters cited his experience in the state Senate or his service as a U.S. Army Ranger.

“I loved the fact that all the local sheriffs in this area supported it, knowing that the sheriff’s office is probably the number one position that we need to be aware of and vote for, that meant a lot to me, and he’s ex-military,” said Scott Marchman, a project estimator and construction company manager who voted in Tyrone on Tuesday.

Marchman added that he would have no problem voting for Jack in the November election if Dugan lost.

With Tuesday’s victory, Jack is now set to replace Rep. Drew Ferguson, a Republican from The Rock who was elected in 2016 and announced his intention to retire in December.

Ferguson was a solid conservative, but some of his more right-wing voters took issue with some of his votes. Last fall, in a battle for House speaker, Ferguson notably withdrew his support for Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan after Ferguson said he and his family had received threats of death on the part of the Jordanian allies.

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