When it comes to big guns in the Republican Party, few are bigger than Jim Jordan. The Ohio congressman cofounded the Freedom Caucus, the most conservative bloc in the U.S. House of Representatives. He’s also one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent admirers and fiercest attack dogs.

That high-caliber, bared-tooth reputation brought Jordan to Savannah this week, where he received top billing and star treatment at a rally for 1st District Congressional Republican candidate Jim Kingston. He didn’t disappoint.

In his 20-minute remarks, Jordan, a former collegiate wrestler described by Politico as a “headline-grabbing conservative firebrand,” served up muscular patriotism (“We’re not sissy, wimpy people — we’re Americans”) with criticism of Europe (“The Italian food, old buildings and all in Europe — it was nice, but it ain’t America.”)

He excoriated socialism (“Cuba is a warm Soviet Union. It’s like Gilligan’s Island with terrible food”), warned the audience and the candidate against leftist subversion (“Look out. The Left is coming after you — cancel culture, mom, and everything else”), and said Democrats are chronic liars and “people you wish weren’t in politics.”

Most of all, the 62-year-old chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee railed against the legal persecution of Donald Trump (“We don’t do this kind of Third World BS” in America) and extolled the U.S. president as an “amazing guy” who reacts responds to lies and persecution by “leaning in right back on the offense.”

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, and congressional candidate Jim Kingston stand in front of an American flag during a campaign event in Savannah, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Kingston is running for the U.S. House to represent Georgia’s 1st Congressional District. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America

Kingston is a “good man with the right kind of heart,” and the “kind of guy you want in Congress, who will go fight,” Jordan said for good measure. “He is just an amazing individual who loves his country.

An insurance executive, Kingston, 34, hopes the endorsement of the ultra-conservative, Trump-embracing Jordan will help him get the votes he needs to win the May 19 Republican party primary — or, at the very least, make it to a runoff a month later. Primary voters are traditionally the most ardent and dedicated voters. In today’s Republican Party, that means MAGA and “America First” voters.

In his brief comments introducing the congressman to the gathering of at least 175 people at Captain Butler’s, a Lutheran retreat center on Wilmington Island, Kingston portrayed Jordan as a model lawmaker and one he said he would seek to emulate if he wins the primary and prevails in November:

“When you think about putting our country first — when you think about our best days ahead — I have a living example of how to go to Washington and fight for everyone in this room — do it in a responsible manner and not forget who sent me there, what I was sent to do, and how I was raised.”

Pedigree, familiarity

Jordan’s visit to Coastal Georgia was, in part, a homage to Kingston’s father, Jack Kingston, who represented Coastal Georgia in Congress for 22 years, seven of them alongside the Ohio lawmaker. “I had the privilege of serving with Jim’s dad. Great guy. [He] helped me when I first got to Congress,” Jordan said.

Thanks to Jack Kingston, his son enjoys the kind of name recognition that his rivals for the nomination — Pat Farrell, Brian Montgomery, Krista Penn, Kandiss Taylor, Eugene Yu — are toiling now to gain as they crisscross the 14-county district of some 778,000 people to more than 806,000, according to some estimates.

A crowd gathers at Captain Butler’s during a campaign event for Jim Kingston in Savannah, Ga., Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Kingston is running for the U.S. House to represent Georgia’s 1st Congressional District. (Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America)
Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America

How much that pedigree and familiarity can translate into political support was evidenced by the crowd at Captain Butler’s, where the atmosphere was more family and class reunion than rollicking political rally.

Still, whether the support of multigenerational, traditionally Republican families in Chatham County and elsewhere in the fast-changing Coastal Georgia is enough to win the GOP nomination is far from certain. Among those families are those who are more establishment than Trump-embracing.

It’s impossible to assess the status of the race with any precision or accuracy. In a congressional district far from Metro Atlanta and widely considered a safely red seat, opinion polling is rare. Besides name recognition, though, Kingston has another advantage that gives him a leg up in the race: a large campaign war chest.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, Kingston had $1.38 million in cash on hand; Farrell, $465,285; Yu, $110,724; Montgomery, $63,106; Penn, $7,383; and Taylor, $3,830, according to the latest figures available from the Federal Elections Commission — a partial picture, to be sure, given the ramped up campaigning since then.

Moving up?

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, peeks from behind an American flag at a campaign event for Jim Kingston in Savannah, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Kingston is running for the U.S. House to represent Georgia’s 1st Congressional District. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current GA/CatchLight/Report for America

Savannah wasn’t the only stop in Georgia for Jordan this week.

He was in Winder, 25 miles west of Athens, on Tuesday stumping for Houston Gaines, a Republican candidate for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District seat. He’s said to be considering a run for speaker of the House or minority leader — whichever is the top GOP post in the chamber following the November elections.

In a deeply divided Republican House caucus, the addition of votes from newly-elected Kingston and Gaines would aid his cause.

This article appears in 2026 Elections.

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Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.