The Republican primary campaign for Georgia governor will go to a June runoff, with the lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, facing off against the healthcare billionaire and political newcomer Rick Jackson – and locking out Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state and longtime political enemy of Donald Trump who was on track to finish a distant third.
Jackson, a political newcomer who was relatively unknown in the state, upended the contest by pouring nearly $50m of his own money into campaign advertising. Republican candidates spent more than $100m in total, according to tracking figures from AdImpact. Jones, who has been endorsed by Trump, and Jackson will continue their showdown on 16 June, which has soaked up almost all of the available advertising inventory on Georgia television.
