ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The secretary of state whose recorded phone call with Donald Trump in the 2020 election’s chaotic aftermath made international headlines is running to become Georgia’s next governor.

On Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced he is running in next year’s wide-open race to replace the outgoing, term-limited Brian Kemp.

He released an announcement video and launched a new website to go along with the campaign.

“I’m a conservative Republican, and I’m prepared to make the tough decisions. I follow the law and the Constitution, and I’ll always do the right thing for Georgia no matter what,” Raffensperger said in the announcement video.

Raffensperger enters a GOP gubernatorial primary that already has Attorney General Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the race to become Georgia’s 84th governor. Jones, already endorsed by President Donald Trump, has a strong fundraising advantage over Carr, despite the outgoing attorney general being the first Republican to enter the campaign.

On the other side of the aisle, six Democrats — former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson; businessman/ pastor Olu Brown; and Republican-turned-Democrat and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan — are running for governor. All are minority candidates with strong ties to Atlanta.

Raffensperger pledges what he calls a “bold conservative agenda,” including eliminating the state income tax, capping property taxes for seniors, banning drugs that block puberty from gender-affirming care and purging “woke curriculums” from schools. He also promises to work with Trump to increase jobs, deport immigrants with criminal records and “restore law and order.”

Watch On the Record With Atlanta News First every Sunday at 11 a.m. on Atlanta News First and its streaming platforms.

Last month, Gabe Sterling, who had served as chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office for six years, left his position to start his own consulting firm.

In 2020, after losing Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden by less than 17,000 votes, Trump unleashed a fury of criticism on Kemp and Raffensperger, at one point making a now-infamous phone call to the secretary of state in which he asked Raffensperger to find him enough votes to carry Georgia.

Raffensperger refused to do so, and Sterling, who made frequent appearances and issued public statements in the election’s aftermath, famously warned Trump and Republican leaders that someone was “going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed.”

That call and other alleged efforts made by Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election results led to a historic indictment of the 45th president and more than a dozen of his GOP allies from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Georgia declined to consider Willis’ appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others. Her indictment is now on its way back to Fulton County Superior Court, where the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council (PAC) of Georgia said it “will fulfill its duty” under state law to appoint another prosecutor to take over the case.

Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case.

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.

Atlanta News First podcasts are available now on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube

Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.