Brian Kemp

Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Kemp served as the state's 27th secretary of state from 2010 to 2018, and as a member of the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2007. He is the first Republican since Reconstruction to be elected governor of Georgia who was not a former Democrat. Kemp is a graduate of the University of Georgia. Before entering politics, he operated several businesses in agriculture, financial services, and real estate. In 2002, he was elected to the Georgia State Senate. Kemp ran for commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture in 2006 but lost the Republican primary. In 2010, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Kemp secretary of state. He was elected to a full term as secretary in 2010 and reelected in 2014. In 2015, Kemp was criticized after a data breach of over six million voters' personal information to 12 organizations. During the 2016 election, he was the only state official to reject help from the Department of Homeland Security to guard against Russian interference. Kemp ran for governor in 2018 and faced Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. He refused to resign as secretary of state while campaigning for governor, which stirred controversy and accusations of abuse of power from Democrats. Kemp narrowly won the general election and resigned as secretary of state shortly thereafter. Abrams refused to concede and accused Kemp of voter suppression and of stealing the election from her, which he denied. News outlets and political science experts have found no evidence that voter suppression affected the result of the election. In his first term as governor, Kemp opposed face mask mandates and stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and prohibited localities...