Incumbent Georgia Governor Brian Kemp easily won the Republican primary on Tuesday, beating Trump’s endorsed candidate ex-Senator David Perdue by a wide margin.
Kemp was declared the winner with 73.1 percent of the vote to Perdue’s 22.3 percent.
Perdue spoke to Kemp and conceded, telling supporters that would throw his full support behind Kemp, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“Tomorrow morning you are going to hear me going to work to make damn sure Stacey Abrams is not the next governor of Georgia,” he said.
In November’s gubernatorial election, Kemp will face Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams for the second consecutive time.
Kemp’s victory was seen as the biggest defeat for a Trump-backed candidate. Only three other Trump endorsed candidates have lost, all of them in races for governor.
Trump endorsed Perdue in December, and made an eight-minute speech in support of the candidate during a Perdue tele-rally on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
During the appearance, Trump blasted Kemp and described his tenure as Georgie governor as the “worst job of any governor in probably decades.”
But Kemp gained endorsements from other prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former President George W. Bush.
“Brian Kemp, frankly, is one of the most successful Republican governors in America,” Pence said on Monday, speaking to a rally at the Cobb County Airport in Kennesaw, Georgia.