Voters enter Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone Tuesday. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Advisor to former president Donald Trump Brian Jack is poised to become Georgia’s next Congressman after declaring victory over former state Sen. Mike Dugan in a GOP runoff Tuesday.
The Associated Press called the race shortly before 8 p.m. on Election Day. With less than 14,000 votes counted, Jack had about 65% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Jack will go on to face Fayetteville Democrat Maura Keller, a nuclear medicine technologist, in the Nov. 8 general election. Jack is heavily favored to win in the conservative west Georgia district, which includes some of Atlanta’s southern suburbs and Columbus’ northern suburbs and stretches west to the Alabama border.
Jack’s yard signs and prevalent TV ads in the district promote his association with, and endorsement from, former president Donald Trump.
Brian Jack speaks at the June 13 grand opening of the Trump Force 47 office in Fayette County. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder
Trump gave his former White House political director his backing 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 the fabulous people of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District down,” Trump wrote. “He will fight tirelessly to Secure our Border, Stop Inflation, Lower Taxes, Support our Great Military/Vets, Restore American Energy Dominance, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. Brian Jack has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
For some conservatives in northern Fayette County, that endorsement was enough to pull the ballot for Jack.
“Donald Trump’s backed him 100%, and I’m a Donald Trump man 100%,” said Rayford Cleghorn, a semi-retired grading contractor, who voted at Hopewell United Methodist Church in Tyrone Tuesday.
But other Jack voters, like Bernard Richardson, a retired Navy master chief, said Trump’s endorsement was not the deciding factor. Richardson said his biggest issue is immigration at the southern border.
“A lot of things are going out of hand, just too far out of hand, especially with the way the whole country is operating, with so many people coming into it,” he said. “We’re going in all different directions, and so we need to get someone to put us in the same direction that we all can agree upon.”
Dugan voters cited his experience in the state Senate or his service as a U.S. Army Ranger.
“I liked the fact that all the local sheriffs in this area supported him, knowing that the sheriff’s office is probably the number one position that we need to be aware of and vote for meant a lot to me, and he’s ex -military,” said Scott Marchman, a project estimator and manager for a construction company who voted in Tyrone Tuesday.
Marchman added that he would not have a problem voting for Jack in the November election if Dugan lost.
With Tuesday’s victory, Jack is now poised to replace Congressman Drew Ferguson, a Republican from The Rock, who was elected in 2016 and announced his plans to retire in December.
Ferguson was a solid conservative, but some of his more far-right constituents took issue with some of his votes. Last fall during a battle over the House Speaker position, Ferguson notably withdrew his support for Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan after Ferguson said he and his family received death threats from Jordan allies.
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