DOUGLASVILLE, Georgia — Mike Dugan wants to talk about his background and his plans for a term in Congress.

“People like to know that whoever they’re going to hire has some experience,” the longtime state senator said during a campaign stop at American Legion Post 145. “Your message, and your experience, is what attracts people to your campaign.”

Dugan, who is vying to be the Republican need nominee for election to the U.S. House to represent Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, isn’t the only candidate with a background in Georgia politics. Mike Crane was also a state senator, serving alongside Dugan for a few years. Philip Singleton served as a state representative until 2023, and Jim Bennett is a Republican activist who entered the race even before incumbent Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA) decided to retire.

All of them hope their backgrounds and ties to the district will hold more weight with voters than former President Donald Trump‘s endorsement of the fifth competitor, Brian Jack.

“[Jack] represents a New Generation of Leadership, and he will be a GREAT Congressman, working closely with me and other Republicans to fix the damage Joe Biden has done to our Country,” Trump posted on Truth Social on March 7. “Brian is a man of Loyalty, Honesty, and Integrity, and will never let the fabulous people of Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District down.”

Jack was an adviser to Trump’s 2016 and political director in the Trump White House. He has raised the most money, much of it from sources outside of the Peach State, and planted campaign signs reading “Trump endorsed” above his name. But Jack also got into the race late and has little experience in the west-central Georgia district, leaving opponents thinking they have a shot to win or advance to a June 18 runoff.

“I think the folks in the third district, myself included, are really tired of the D.C. elites picking who our Congressperson is,” Crane, who narrowly lost a race to Ferguson in 2016, said. “So when this opportunity came up, we knew it was something worth venturing, giving people a chance to have their voice heard in D.C. instead of the other way around.”

Ferguson announced his retirement in December. The district is heavily Republican, representing Atlanta’s far southern suburbs and a long strip of the Alabama-Georgia border, meaning the GOP primary winner is likely to win the general election.

Dugan, trailing Jack and Crane in the money race, has focused on retail politicking via a “truck tour” of the district. He says voters he speaks with tend to fall into three categories: diehard Trump fans, Trump supporters who are open to backing a non-Trump candidate down ballot, and voters who don’t like Trump.

All of the candidates are supporting Trump against President Joe Biden and are mostly aligned on issues such as the economy and immigration. But each has a few wrinkles that set them apart. Dugan says the bills he helped pass as Senate majority leader, including an income tax cut and election integrity measures, speak to his ability to get things done.

Crane says Congress must write bills so tightly that they can’t be twisted later on by the executive branch, something his attention to detail and language would help implement.

“We’ve got to get specific because we see what happens when we’re not,” he said.

Efforts to reach Jack, Singleton, and Bennett were not immediately successful.

Trump’s endorsement has been coveted and feared since he came on the political scene nearly 10 years ago. But it hasn’t been a surefire shot in Georgia. Two years ago, Trump-backed challengers to Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger failed, as did Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

While Jack mentions Trump often while campaigning, the other candidates say they are not afraid.

“I don’t have to convince people to not vote for Brian Jack,” Singleton told the Associated Press. “Nobody knows who Brian Jack is.”

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Crane says it’s about telling voters what you’ll do rather than who backs you.

“I’m there to get the job done and make sure we get our country on track,” he said.