The race for Georgia's 3rd District is a new test of Donald Trump's mettle

Jack is positioning himself in the latter camp. He’s ducked some events with other candidates, attended a half-dozen GOP meetings across the district and poured money into TV and digital ads featuring Trump’s blessing.

Dugan is taking a similar tack, avoiding much of the red-meat rhetoric common on the campaign trail. In one instance, Dugan expressed sympathy for those “fleeing an inhospitable situation” even as he urged stricter border controls to deter illegal migration.

His mantra to voters: “I’ll be a congressman you can be proud of.”

Crane and Singleton aren’t fire-breathing conservatives in the mold of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose far-right stances have made her a national brand. But both come from an ultraconservative wing that relishes fights with the establishment. And both aren’t afraid to confront Jack despite his association with Trump.

At one forum, Singleton turned to an empty seat representing an absent Jack and asked: “Do you really think that you’re going to be able to sit in your D.C. penthouse and buy this election?”

A Trump ‘insider’

Jack, who would be Georgia’s youngest House member at 36, was no bit player in Trump’s orbit. He joined Trump’s campaign in 2016 after Carson’s bid for president collapsed and was assigned the painstaking task of wrangling delegates ahead of the GOP convention.

He later was tapped as director of Trump’s office of political affairs, part of a small group of aides who staffed the then-president from the campaign trail until his final day in the White House. In 2021, Jack took a similar job with McCarthy before rejoining Trump’s comeback bid.

Since announcing his bid for office shortly before March qualifying ended, Jack has leaned heavily on Trump and a core of MAGA partisans to promote his campaign.

Three of Trump’s top allies in Georgia — Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper and state Sen. Brandon Beach — have all endorsed Jack. Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, a prominent Trump loyalist, hosted a fundraiser for Jack on Monday.

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