BK
Brian Kemp
RepublicanGovernor of Georgia| Age | 62 (b. 1963-11-02) |
| Gender | Male |
| In office since | 2019-01-01 (~7 yrs) |
| Race / ethnicity | White |
| Religion | Christian; Episcopalian (Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Athens) |
| Education | Clarke Central High School (1982); University of Georgia, B.S. in Agriculture (1987) |
| Prior occupation | Home builder, real estate developer and businessman; founded Kemp Development and Construction Company and Kemp Properties; founding director of First Madison Bank & Trust |
| Military service | No |
| Birthplace | Athens, Georgia |
| Marital status | Married — Marty Argo Kemp |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Athens, Georgia (official residence at Governor's Mansion, Atlanta) |
| Notable relatives | Brother-in-law Bill Cowsert (Georgia State Senator); father-in-law Bob Argo (former Georgia State Representative); maternal grandfather Julian H. Cox (Georgia legislator) |
Pending research: languages · openly lgbtq.
Career & politics
| First elected | 2002 |
| Previous offices | Georgia State Senate, District 46 (2003-2007) · Georgia Secretary of State (2010-2018) |
| Leadership | Governor of Georgia (83rd), 2019-present · Chair, Republican Governors Association (2024-2025) |
| Ideology | Described as staunchly conservative Republican. |
| Signature legislation | SB 202 / Election Integrity Act of 2021 (election law overhaul) · 2019 'heartbeat' abortion law (LIFE Act, HB 481, ~6-week ban) · SB 319 (2022) - constitutional/permitless concealed carry · HB 1018 (2024) - Second Amendment Privacy Act |
Financial
Net worth: disclosed $8,600,000–$8,800,000 (2022) · estimate
| Various real estate properties | real_estate · $4,600,000 · 2022 |
| Home in Athens, Georgia | real_estate · $675,000–$675,000 · 2022 |
| Stone supply firm (stake) | business_owned · $420,000–$420,000 · 2022 |
| Cash | other · $270,000–$270,000 · 2022 |
| Row crop farm investment in Colombia, South America (COAG South American / CAIG) | business_owned · 2022 |
Scandals & crimes ledger
resolved - settled / consent order, administratively dismissed — Civil lawsuit over unpaid $500,000 Hart AgStrong loan (settled by consent order) business
Financier Rick Phillips sued Brian Kemp in 2017 claiming Kemp failed to repay a $500,000 loan that Kemp had negotiated and personally guaranteed so his company, Hart AgStrong LLC (a northeast Georgia seed/canola processor in which Kemp was an investor and former board member), could purchase raw canola seeds. The company struggled financially after an expansion into Kentucky. Kemp had invested roughly $750,000 and guaranteed about $10 million in loans for the firm. The matter is tied to a business entity Kemp invested in and helped run; the case was resolved by a consent order/settlement (terms undisclosed) filed in Gwinnett County Superior Court shortly before Kemp's January 2019 gubernatorial inauguration, and was administratively dismissed.
resolved — Civil Lawsuit — Hart AgStrong Loan Guarantee (RLP Investments v. Kemp) business
In 2017, investor Rick Phillips (through RLP Investments) sued Kemp and his seed-processing company Hart AgStrong LLC in Gwinnett County Superior Court, alleging Kemp failed to repay a $500,000 loan he had personally guaranteed for Hart AgStrong. Financial records showed Kemp had invested $750,000 in the company and guaranteed approximately $10 million in loans to the struggling firm, which had expanded unsuccessfully into Kentucky. The case was resolved by a confidential consent order filed days before Kemp was sworn in as governor. No wrongdoing was admitted and no public settlement amount was disclosed.
resolved - injunction granted against Kemp in official capacity — Federal preliminary injunction against Kemp over 'exact match' voter registration policy (Sec. of State, 2018)
Civil rights organizations (including the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Campaign Legal Center) sued Brian Kemp in his official capacity as Georgia Secretary of State over the state's 'exact match' voter-registration protocol, under which more than 53,000 registration applications were placed in 'pending' status weeks before the 2018 midterm election. On November 2, 2018, U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross granted a preliminary injunction requiring Kemp's office to let citizens flagged under the citizenship-mismatch portion of the policy cast a ballot if they showed proof of citizenship. This was a formal court action against Kemp in his official capacity; it was a civil voting-rights matter, not a criminal or personal-finance finding.