What is happening between Gov. Kemp and Dooley? Scandal in Senate race

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The U.S. Senate race is heating up in Georgia, where two Republicans are facing off in a June runoff to take on incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November.U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and former college football coach Derek Dooley earned the highest percentage of votes on midterm primary day in May. Collins led polling for multiple weeks before election day, but Dooley made up significant ground in the final push. The runoff election will be held on June 16.Dooley's fourth-quarter momentum was in part thanks to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. The governor strongly endorsed Dooley, and has remained focused on the Senate race as another major runoff race takes place in the state to replace him as governor. Kemp's political action committee has funneled millions of dollars into the Dooley campaign, according to reports, and the two families have been close since childhood.Now, the election has led to accusations of an intricate web of connection between the Kemp and Dooley families, and potential pay-to-play politics dating back to Kemp's first days in the state house.Here's what to know about the controversy.Dooley's brother issued state contracts for security systems in schoolsAccording to a report published by 11Alive, a company owned by Derek Dooley's brother and Kemp's close personal friend, Daniel, earned millions of dollars when it was issued state contracts to put security systems in Georgia schools.Kemp is reported to have talked up the company, called Centegix, during events like a visit to a Douglas County school in 2019, where Daniel Dooley was present. He later helped pass legislation for grants to schools for the purpose of security.School safety grants were issued to public school districts across the state for a dollar amount that would cover a Centegix system, and those systems have since been installed across Georgia. As of August 2025, 90% of Georgia public schools use Dooley's product, according to reporting from WSB-TV.Dooley in turn donated at least $100,000 to Hardworking Americans, Kemp's political action committee, which is now funding Derek Dooley's Senate campaign, according to reports.In a statement to 11Alive, a spokesperson for the governor said the safety grants were given to local school districts and were not directly administered by the state."Decisions on how to spend these grants, which vendor(s) to select, or what method of security chosen rests solely with local authorities, and any contracts would be between the local district and their selected recipient," a spokesperson told the outlet.11Alive noted in an update to their report there was not evidence of Kemp steering the school districts to contracts with Centegix.Dooley has not publicly addressed the accusations.Buyers of Kemp properties later issued state contracts, positionsBut the controversy doesn't stop there for the governor.In reports from Courier Georgia and other outlets, Kemp (a businessman before becoming a politician) held significant debt coming into the governor's mansion in 2019 as his company Shelter Rock struggled to offload a series of properties along Lake Strom Thurmond, or Clarks Hill Lake on the Georgia-South Carolina border.Two years into his first term, those properties sold through a series of multi-million dollar transactions for more than the 2020 asking price, erasing much of the debt, according to reports. The deeds and transactions were signed by Kemp, records show.Later, the buyers of those properties such as Donald Richards, president of Network Cabling Infrastructures, were issued state contracts for security and surveillance products for Georgia agencies, earning more than $2 million in payments from the state, according to reporting.Kemp is also accused of helping to pass lottery machine legislation (HB 383) to benefit another property buyer, as well as appointing a third buyer to the State Charter School Commission. That buyer later donated to the Dooley Senate campaign, according to Courier Georgia.In a statement to the outlet, a representative for the governor said the transactions were to "disentangle the governor from a longstanding business partnership," making Kemp less financially involved with buyers he would later work with rather than in cahoots with them."Furthermore, the governor has no involvement in the state contracting or procurement process, and there are strict laws in place prohibiting such involvement. HB 383 received broad bipartisan support and underwent a thorough review process before the governor's decision to sight it," a spokesperson told the outlet. "The governor maintains the highest standards when separating his personal enterprise from his role as chief executive, as evidenced by (the) exact transaction(s) (Courier Georgia is) misconstruing."Georgia lawmakers call for investigation during special sessionAt the end of the 2026 legislative session, the state house adjourned its session Sine Die, leaving bills and election reform decisions still on the table as legislators left Atlanta.Kemp called for a special session shortly after, set to begin on June 17. In an amended proclamation, Kemp said the special session would cover changes to the Georgia voting process following the 2020 election (President Trump has long alleged voter fraud in Fulton County, leading to his loss to Joe Biden), possible redistricting after the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana and ratification of the gas tax suspension in Georgia which expired earlier this week.Now, state lawmakers from Augusta are leading the charge to add an investigation into the Kemp and Dooley families to the agenda for June.State Representatives Karlton Howard and Brian Prince said in a press call Friday that Kemp and Dooley have both refused to answer any questions about their possible financial entanglements despite appearing united on the campaign trail (Statements from the governor's office have been sent to news outlets)."This scheme raises obvious questions about possible corruption and pay-to-play politics, but Dooley and Kemp have no shame in any of this in the middle of the GOP U.S. Senate runoff that the governor continues to go across the state doing everything in his power to get his longtime friend elected through this corruption," Howard said. "Instead of transparency, we've gotten silence."The representatives called for an independent investigation into Daniel Dooley's company and no-bid government contracts during the special session. Howard said at least 40 legislatures have signed on to the statement from both sides of the aisle."This pay to play type of politics is something that we need to see 'what's going on,' 'who's being paid,' and again, 'why is that'?" Prince said. "We want something independent, so that we can show the people of Georgia just what is happening in the state now."Irene Wright covers midterm races in Georgia as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.