Kemp wins Republican runoff for governor

ATLANTA >> Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Tuesday won a bruising Republican runoff in the race for Georgia governor.

A self-described “unapologetic conservative” whose campaign ran an eyebrow-raising ad that said he could use his own pickup truck to “round up criminal illegals,” Kemp rode a national wave of voter contempt for the establishment in favor of bare-knuckled outsider politics.

He now faces Democrat Stacey Abrams, who could become the country’s first black female governor, in a race that will test Democrats’ assertion that changing demographics have turned the Republican stronghold into a swing state.

Kemp thanked supporters at a party in his hometown of Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday night and said he had won a “clear, convincing victory.”

Kemp also pivoted to attacking his Democratic opponent, asking supporters: “Do you want a governor who is going to answer to Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton?”

Abrams tweeted her reaction to Kemp’s win Tuesday, saying “Tonight, I have an opponent: Kemp. The race for #GAGov may change, but our values never will. Service, faith & family guide our vision for GA: Affordable health care. Excellent public schools for every child. An economy that works for all.”

“Stand with us,” she wrote, followed by a link to a fundraising page.