How Trump and Kemp’s Relationship Could Affect Republicans’ Chances in Georgia

Donald Trump needs to win Georgia. That probably means he needs to keep a fragile peace with its popular Republican governor, even as election denialism again courses through the state.

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Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia drew attacks from former President Donald J. Trump after refusing to help him overturn the 2020 election results in his state.

Former President Donald J. Trump has reached an uneasy truce with Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, setting aside a yearslong grudge over his Republican counterpart’s refusal to help him overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

The question for Republicans, as Georgia looks increasingly crucial to the party’s chances of retaking the White House, is how long the volatile Mr. Trump will let it last.

So far, the main signs of their reconciliation have been a few kind words. Weeks after the former president ripped into Mr. Kemp at an Atlanta rally last month — accusing him of wanting Mr. Trump “to lose” and of leading a state that had “gone to hell” before insulting his wife — he gratefully accepted the governor’s endorsement. Mr. Trump, who had been urged by his advisers to reconcile, thanked Mr. Kemp on social media for “all of your support and help.” The governor has said in interviews and at fund-raisers that he stands behind Mr. Trump.

Their arranged political marriage is born of necessity for the former president: The governor was re-elected by more than seven percentage points in 2022, and he enjoys notably high approval ratings despite Georgia’s polarized political environment, remaining popular among both right-wing and moderate Republicans.

That alone could make Mr. Kemp a powerful ally for Mr. Trump. What’s more, the governor has an influential political machine in the state, whose canvassers are out knocking doors for State House candidates in metro Atlanta. At a time when Mr. Trump’s ground game is far inferior to Vice President Kamala Harris’s in the battleground state, Mr. Kemp could put that machinery to use for the former president.

But as Peach State Republicans try to clean up the fallout of Mr. Trump’s vendetta against Mr. Kemp, they are also counting on a tenuous level of self-control from the former president, who keeps questioning the legitimacy of the last election as he campaigns in the current one.

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