52 Facts About Brian Kemp

Brian Porter Kemp was born on November 2,1963 and is an American politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since 2019.

Brian Kemp is the first Republican since Reconstruction to be elected governor of Georgia who was not formerly a Democrat.

Brian Kemp ran for commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture in 2006 but lost the Republican primary.

Brian Kemp was elected to a full term as secretary in 2010 and reelected in 2014.

In 2015, Brian Kemp was criticized after a data breach of over six million voters' personal information to 12 organizations.

Brian Kemp ran for governor in 2018 and faced Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.

Brian Kemp narrowly won the general election and resigned as secretary of state shortly thereafter.

In 2021, Brian Kemp signed into law the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which expanded early in-person voting and increased the state government's control over local election officials.

Brian Kemp attended the private Athens Academy until ninth grade, and then transferred to Clarke Central High School to play football for Billy Henderson; he graduated in 1983.

Brian Kemp later graduated from the University of Georgia, where he majored in agriculture.

Brian Kemp was a home builder and developer before entering politics.

Brian Kemp served as a Georgia State Senator from 2003 to 2007 after defeating the Democratic incumbent Doug Haines.

Brian Kemp finished second in the primary, but lost the runoff to Gary Black.

Brian Kemp declared his candidacy for State Senate District 47 when incumbent Ralph Hudgens planned to run for Congress in Georgia's 10th congressional district, but Hudgens instead ran for reelection, changing Brian Kemp's plans.

In early 2010, Brian Kemp was appointed Georgia Secretary of State by then-Governor Sonny Perdue.

Brian Kemp rejects the conclusion by the United States Intelligence Community that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Amid Russian interference in the 2016 election, Brian Kemp denounced the Obama administration's efforts to strengthen election system security, including improving access to federal cybersecurity assistance, calling the efforts an assault on states' rights.

In December 2016, Brian Kemp accused the Department of Homeland Security of attempting to hack his office's computer network, including the voter registration database, implying that it was retribution for his previous refusal to work with DHS.

Brian Kemp drew criticism again in 2017 when it was revealed that a flaw in the state voting system exposed the personal information of over six million Georgia voters, as well as passwords used by county election officials to access voter files, to researchers at Kennesaw State University.

Brian Kemp denied responsibility, instead saying researchers at Kennesaw State University, who managed the system, had acted "in accordance with standard IT procedures" in deleting the data.

The Brian Kemp campaign was criticized for its apparent reference to Unterman's history of depression, about which she had spoken publicly.

Brian Kemp was accused by Democrats of voter suppression during the 2018 gubernatorial election.

Brian Kemp denied engaging in voter suppression, stating that he was following federal and state law to update voter rolls with accurate information.

Brian Kemp introduced a controversial "exact match" policy during his first year as secretary of state in 2010.

Between 2012 and 2018, Brian Kemp's office canceled over 1.4 million voters' registrations, with nearly 700,000 cancellations in 2017 alone.

Palast sued Brian Kemp, claiming over 300,000 voters were purged illegally.

Brian Kemp himself experienced technical problems attempting to vote in the election.

Brian Kemp was given until March 20,2019, to comply with document requests or face a subpoena.

Brian Kemp faced a primary challenge from former US Senator David Perdue, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump after Kemp refused to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Brian Kemp was sworn in for a second term on January 12,2023.

Brian Kemp was inaugurated as governor in a public ceremony in Atlanta on January 14,2019.

Brian Kemp was inaugurated for his second term on January 9,2023.

In May 2019, Brian Kemp signed into law a highly controversial bill that would prohibit abortions after a heartbeat can be detected in a fetus, which is usually when a woman is six weeks pregnant; the legislation was one of the country's strictest anti-abortion laws.

Brian Kemp has publicly stated his support for a "statewide ban on the destruction of embryos".

In March 2021, Brian Kemp signed SB 202, which expanded early in-person voting, enacted ID requirements for absentee voting, gave the legislature power to overrule or replace local election officials, and banned anyone other than election workers from providing food or water to voters waiting in line.

In May 2024, Brian Kemp signed three election bills into law.

Brian Kemp visited Swainsboro in September 2019 to announce the creation of a rural "strike team" focusing on economic development in rural areas of the state.

Brian Kemp has supported efforts to overturn the Affordable Care Act, as well as efforts to hinder the functioning of the Affordable Care Act for Georgia residents.

Brian Kemp has sought to introduce work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

Brian Kemp appointed Carla Wong McMillian to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Georgia caused by the retirement of Robert Benham.

In March 2021, Brian Kemp expressed opposition to a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress.

Trump added that Brian Kemp had "done absolutely nothing" to challenge the result of the 2020 election in Georgia, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump by 11,779 votes, the first time since 1992 that Georgia voted for the Democratic nominee for president.

In January 2021, Trump criticized Brian Kemp for certifying Georgia's results.

In March 2021, Brian Kemp said he would support Trump if he ran for president again in 2024.

In May 2022, Brian Kemp announced he had the support of former Vice President Mike Pence.

In July, Brian Kemp traveled to Wisconsin for the 2024 Republican National Convention, where he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of Trump's platform for the Republican party, "it doesn't really matter what we think".

In 2024, Brian Kemp joined five other Republican governors in a statement opposing the United Auto Workers unionization campaign.

Brian Kemp married Marty Argo, daughter of longtime Georgia House of Representatives member Bob Argo, on January 8,1994; they have three daughters.

In May 2018, Brian Kemp was sued for failure to repay $500,000 in business loans.

Brian Kemp was under investigation after making guarantees using assets it did not own and repaying suppliers using proceeds from insurance settlements.

In October 2018, Atlanta television station WAGA-TV reported that companies Brian Kemp owned had owed more than $800,000 in loans to a community bank where he is a founding board member and stockholder.

Brian Kemp's campaign declined to publicize the terms of the loan.