ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, said Thursday that he’s running for governor in 2026, becoming the first major candidate from either party to announce a bid.

Prominent Republicans and Democrats are eyeing the seat, which will be open in two years after term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp leaves the office. Other potential Republican contenders include Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, while the Democratic field is less well-defined.

Carr is portraying himself as the best candidate to continue steady Republican leadership in the mold of the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, former Gov. Nathan Deal and Kemp.

“I’ve seen what it takes to be successful,” Carr told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “And I want to run as the proven conservative who will create jobs for hardworking Georgians, keep our families and neighborhoods safe and vigorously defend our Constitution and freedoms.”

Carr has aligned closely with Kemp but could face opposition from President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters in a primary election. Jones has been close to Trump and would likely angle for his endorsement. By contrast, Trump endorsed primary opponents who ultimately lost to both Carr and Raffensperger in 2022, fueled by his displeasure that neither Carr nor Raffensperger backed Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss in Georgia.

Carr said he was confident that he could win on issues and appeal to enough voters to win a Republican primary, despite his past differences with Trump.

“This race isn’t going to be about how loud somebody yells or screams, it’s going to be about a conservative record,” he said. “And I’m the one that has that.”

It’s exceptionally early to announce a 2026 political bid. Customarily, statewide candidates in Georgia would announce sometime after 2025’s legislative session. But Carr let it be known more than a year ago that he was lining up donors for a run. That’s in part because Jones and Raffensperger are much more wealthy than Carr.

Carr filed papers with the Georgia Ethics Commission Thursday creating a campaign committee to raise money for the governor’s race. Announcing now could help Carr lock down donors, especially because he won’t be able to raise money for his state campaign account during the three-month legislative session that convenes on Jan. 13.

The attorney general’s office in Georgia traditionally has been preoccupied with defending civil lawsuits brought against the state and could only aid in a prosecution if a local district attorney requested help. But Republican lawmakers have given Carr increasing powers to directly prosecute criminals.

In 2019, lawmakers gave Carr the authority to create a human trafficking prosecution unit. Carr’s office says the unit has convicted 50 people, participated in 325 investigations and assisted more than 200 victims.

In 2022, lawmakers directed Carr to create a statewide gang prosecution unit that now has offices in Atlanta, Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and southeast Georgia. That unit has secured more than 40 convictions and indictments against more than 140 people.

“Nobody’s going to come here and locate a business or a job if they don’t feel safe,” Carr said, calling his office’s expansion of prosecutions “very successful.”

After working as a lawyer and the vice president of the conservative Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Carr got his entry into politics when he joined U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s staff in 2004 and became Isakson’s chief of staff in 2007.

Gov. Nathan Deal picked Carr to become Commissioner of Economic Development in 2013 after another old Isakson hand, Chris Cummiskey, left to work for the Southern Co., the Atlanta-based utility giant. Deal put a major emphasis on economic development as Georgia tried to dig out from the wreckage of the Great Recession, and Carr helped facilitate projects worth more than $14 billion in investment that helped create more than 83,000 jobs.

Deal promoted Carr to attorney general in 2016 after Sam Olens resigned to become president of Kennesaw State University. Carr hadn’t earned a living practicing law for years and had never personally tried a case. But he wasn’t challenged in the Republican primary in 2018 and narrowly beat Democrat Charlie Bailey in the general election.

In 2022, Carr demolished right-wing primary challenger John Gordon despite Gordon getting Trump’s endorsement and then beat Democrat Jen Jordan in the narrowest victory of any Republican on the statewide ballot that year.

Georgia’s attorney general doesn’t face term limits, meaning Carr could have chosen to run for reelection in 2026.

Jones didn’t say anything about his political plans Thursday, but underlined his link to Trump.

“Georgians just endured a long election where the lieutenant governor was proud to fight alongside President Trump — now it’s time to get to work,” said Jones’ chief of staff, Loree Anne Paradise. “Burt is focused on delivering conservative solutions to the issues the General Assembly will tackle during the upcoming legislative session.”

Democratic candidates could include U.S. Rep Lucy McBath and outgoing DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.

Republicans have won six straight governor’s races in Georgia since Sonny Perdue became the first Republican to be elected in modern times in 2002. Democrats had hoped to break that streak under Stacey Abrams in 2022 after she narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018, but Kemp defeated her by a comfortable margin in their rematch.

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press