Brad Raffensperger jumps into the Georgia governor's race

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that he is running for governor, becoming a high-profile Republican entry into the race in the battleground state.

"I'm a conservative Republican, and I'm prepared to make the tough decisions," he said in an announcement video. "I follow the law and the Constitution, and I'll always do the right thing for Georgia no matter what."

The current governor, Brian Kemp, is in his second term and is term-limited.

Raffensperger rose to the national stage after the 2020 presidential election, when he rejected President Donald Trump's plea to "find" more votes in Georgia after he lost the state to Joe Biden.

"All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have," Trump told Raffensperger in a phone call, which later became public. "Because we won the state."

Biden, though, had won Georgia, and Raffensperger pushed back, saying that "the data you have is wrong" and drawing the intense ire of Trump and many in his MAGA base.

Raffensperger said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press" in 2021 that he had voted for Trump twice, adding that many people "understand that I did my job."

"I followed the law; I followed the Constitution. And they believe that’s the honorable thing to do," he said.

Raffensperger will face several candidates in the Republican primary, including Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and state Attorney General Chris Carr. The Democratic field includes former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who switched parties last month and will run as a Democrat. State Sen. Jason Esteves and state Rep. Derrick Jackson, both Democrats, are also running.

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Raffensperger's announcement video emphasizes that his "Christian faith guides everything he does" and discusses losing his son to addiction.

"That's why Brad will make it a personal mission to stop deadly drugs in our state, expand treatment and save lives," the narrator says.

The video highlights some culture war issues embraced by Republicans, including Raffensperger's vow to "ban biological men in women's sports," referring to the debate over transgender women participating in women's athletics, and to ban "transgender surgeries for minors."

Raffensperger's website also details other policy proposals, including banning puberty blockers for minors, capping property taxes, eliminating the state income tax and "purging radical curriculums and policies" in schools. He emphasized his interest in "fully" supporting the Trump administration's efforts "to deport criminal aliens from Georgia by empowering and funding state law enforcement to partner with local police and Sheriff’s Departments."

The state, once a Republican stronghold, has shifted into battleground status in recent years after Georgians cast ballots for Biden and Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Ossoff is up for re-election next year in what is expected to be a tight race.