President Trump endorses candidate for Georgia governor ahead of GOP runoff

President Donald Trump has endorsed a candidate for Georgia governor.

The president tweeted that he is giving Brian Kemp his "full and total endorsement."

Kemp will face Casey Cagle in the GOP runoff election on Tuesday.

"I'm ecstatic about having his endorsement," Kemp told Channel 2's Aaron Diamant Wednesday.

Kemp said the endorsement came without warning, and he's proud to have received it.

"“I’m proud to have his support. I’m ready to stand with him. He’s standing with me," Kemp said. “I’m a lot like the president. I’m a business guy. I ran on cutting government regulation, streamlining government, not being the status quo, running against the establishment in a lot of ways.”

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Kemp called Trump's support critical, but isn't taking it for granted.

"I think it’s going to have a huge impact, but we’ve got to make sure that happens," he said. "We’ve got to keep working, you know. Our goal is to make sure we make this endorsement worth it for him and worth it for our campaign.”

Late Wednesday afternoon, Cagle responded to the president's decision.

Earlier this week, Gov. Nathan Deal endorsed Cagle for governor.

The winner of the runoff will face Democratic candidate Stacy Abrams in December. She also responded to President Trump's endorsement Wednesday evening.

Cox Media Group