Georgia Insurance Commissioner Cancels Run for US Senate Seat

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King is dropping out of the race for a U.S. Senate seat after meeting with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Multiple news outlets reported that King, a Republican in the commissioner’s job since 2019, has suspended his campaign to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. John Ossoff. Kemp reportedly told King that he is supporting Derek Dooley, a former college football coach and son of famed University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley, the Associated Press, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other news sources reported.

Dooley’s campaign hasn’t launched yet, but in recent weeks he has hired two of Kemp’s closest political aides, signaling an announcement is imminent, AP wrote.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter also is in the running, and Thursday’s news brought a public acknowledgment that U.S. Rep. Mike Collins will be joining the field, a plan Collins has hinted at in recent days.

King said he would run for reelection as state insurance commissioner next year, saying he would support efforts to help Republicans win “and back a Senate nominee who supports President Trump’s agenda,” the AP reported.

King (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)

“I got into the U.S. Senate race to beat Jon Ossoff, not distract from the mission. Right now, it’s clear there’s little path forward to the nomination, so today I’m suspending my campaign,” King said in a statement.

Kemp had put King, a former police chief and military officer, on the stage in 2019 when he appointed King to replace Jim Beck, who was convicted of defrauding a homeowners’ insurance association he worked for. King was then elected commissioner in 2022, defeating a Donald Trump-endorsed Republican and a Democrat insurance agent.

King once looked like he would be Kemp’s backup plan if Kemp didn’t run for Senate himself. A Mexican immigrant who rose from police officer and soldier to police chief and National Guard major general, his supporters hoped his biography would distinguish him.

But Kemp told his donors to hold off on making gifts, the AP reported, and King raised only about $500,000 through June 30, raising questions about whether he could pay for the race.