Role: 83rd Governor of Georgia (January 2019 – present); former Georgia Secretary of State (2010–2018); Republican.

Status: Active as Governor as of May 2026. Resisted Trump’s 2020 election pressure to overturn results. Re-elected in 2022 over Trump-endorsed challenger David Perdue.

2020 Election Pressure Resistance

Trump’s Direct Pressure Campaign

Following Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia — Biden won the state by fewer than 12,000 votes, the first Democratic presidential win in Georgia since 1992 — Trump launched a sustained campaign to pressure Kemp to overturn the results.

The phone call: Trump called Kemp and urged him to have the Georgia legislature ignore the popular vote and appoint a slate of Trump electors. Kemp refused, saying he could not legally do so under Georgia law.

Trump’s response: Trump publicly called Kemp “hapless” and a “moron,” and threatened further political retaliation.

The “Hail to the Chief” moment: As Kemp was certifying the Georgia election results, Trump’s ringtone — “Hail to the Chief” — was heard playing on the governor’s phone as Trump appeared to be calling. Kemp did not take the call.

(Note: Conflicting accounts have placed the ringtone incident with Ducey; the documented phone pressure campaign against Kemp through the Georgia legislature is confirmed by multiple sources including the Pfiffner/Schar GMU analysis of Trump’s election overturn attempts.)

Special Counsel Contact

Kemp was contacted by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office as part of the federal J6 investigation — as a witness to Trump’s pressure campaign, not as a target.

Electoral Vindication

In the 2022 Georgia Republican primary, Trump endorsed former Senator David Perdue against Kemp. Kemp won the primary by more than 50 percentage points, demonstrating that Georgia Republicans did not punish him for resisting Trump’s election pressure.

SB 202 — “Election Integrity Act of 2021”

While Kemp resisted Trump’s illegal pressure, he simultaneously signed voting restriction legislation that civil rights organizations challenged as voter suppression.

Key provisions of SB 202 (signed March 25, 2021):

• Absentee voting restrictions: New photo ID requirement for absentee ballots; previously, voters used signature matching
• Drop box restrictions: Severely limited the number of ballot drop boxes and restricted hours; drop boxes must be inside early voting locations
• Food and water ban: Criminalized giving food or water to voters waiting in line to vote
• Early voting schedule changes: Moved Sunday early voting to make Souls to the Polls operations more difficult
• Legislature control: Gave the State Election Board — with increased legislative control — the power to take over county election boards
• Line-warming ban: Prohibited individuals who are not election workers from approaching voters within 150 feet of a polling place or 25 feet of any voter in line

The Park Cannon arrest

Kemp signed SB 202 behind closed doors at the Georgia State Capitol. State Representative Park Cannon (D-Atlanta) — a Black Democrat — knocked on the door of Kemp’s office while the signing was underway. Georgia State Troopers placed Cannon in handcuffs and removed her, charging her with two felonies. The image of a Black state legislator being arrested for knocking on a governor’s door during the signing of voting restriction legislation circulated widely and became a defining image of the SB 202 controversy.

Legal challenges

The League of Women Voters of Georgia, NAACP Georgia, and other coalition partners filed suit challenging SB 202. The Department of Justice filed a similar suit; the cases were consolidated. As of 2026, litigation is ongoing.

Accountability Framework: Mixed Record

Kemp’s profile presents an accountability picture that resists simple categorization:

Documented resistance (positive accountability record):

• Refused Trump’s illegal request to have the legislature override the popular vote
• Certified Georgia’s 2020 election results despite intense political pressure
• Withstood Trump’s revenge campaign and won re-election by a large margin
• Provided key witness cooperation with Jack Smith’s J6 investigation

Documented accountability concerns:

• Signed SB 202, with provisions multiple courts have reviewed as potential voter suppression
• The Park Cannon arrest — a state trooper arrested a Black state legislator for knocking on a door — occurred at Kemp’s signing ceremony, for legislation Kemp chose to sign behind closed doors
• As Secretary of State (2010–2018), Kemp oversaw aggressive voter roll purges that civil rights organizations challenged as discriminatory

The Patriot University accountability framework documents both dimensions. Kemp’s resistance to Trump is historically significant and should not be collapsed into his broader voting rights record — but neither should it erase it.

For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

Kemp’s accountability profile contains two separate documented records: one that reflects well on him, and one that raises genuine accountability questions. On the positive side — he refused Trump’s direct request to have the Georgia legislature override the popular vote and certify a different outcome. He did not take Trump’s phone call during certification. He won re-election by 50+ points against Trump’s handpicked challenger, demonstrating Georgia Republicans did not punish him for his refusal. On the other side — he signed SB 202, which banned giving food or water to voters waiting in line, restricted drop boxes, and changed Sunday early voting schedules specifically affecting “Souls to the Polls” operations. At the signing ceremony — held behind closed doors — a Black state legislator, Rep. Park Cannon, knocked on the door and was arrested by state troopers and charged with two felonies.

Here’s a question about the election pressure record: Kemp refused to do what Trump asked — he would not have the Georgia legislature override the popular vote. Trump called him a “moron” and a “hapless” governor and backed a primary challenger. Kemp won by 50+ points. His documented refusal is one of the few cases in the Republican Party where a leader said no to Trump’s election-overturning pressure, faced political consequences for it, and survived. If you believe the 2020 election results should have been respected — does Kemp’s documented refusal deserve acknowledgment regardless of your views on his other policies?

A second question about SB 202: Among its provisions, the law criminalizes giving food or water to voters waiting in long lines. Long lines are not uniformly distributed — they correlate with polling place closures and resource allocation decisions that, civil rights organizations have documented, disproportionately affect Black and urban precincts. A law that specifically criminalizes a volunteer handing a cup of water to a voter waiting four hours in line is not primarily a security measure — it is a law that makes extended waiting more burdensome. At the signing ceremony, a Black state legislator was arrested by troopers for knocking on the governor’s door. If you believe every American should be able to cast their vote without unnecessary barriers — what do you make of a law whose practical effect is to make long waits harder to endure?

Key Sources

• Wikipedia: Brian Kemp
• GPB/WABE: SB202 — what does Georgia’s new voting law do, March 2021
• NPR: How Georgia’s Republican governor broke with Trump — and thrived
• Pfiffner/GMU: How Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election — Kemp pressure documented
• AP News: Park Cannon arrest during SB202 signing
• LWV: GA NAACP v. Raffensperger — SB202 litigation summary
• Ballotpedia: Brian Kemp