Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp says he's not running for the White House in 2024, hasn't heard from Trump, and will keep 'an open mind' on the GOP presidential field

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told The Wall Street Journal he won't run for the White House in 2024.
• Kemp, who was reelected to a second term last fall, said he was keeping "an open mind" on the GOP field.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who in recent years has become one of the highest-profile Republicans in the country, told The Wall Street Journal he won't run for president in 2024 but said he was keeping "an open mind" when it comes to current and future candidates in the Republican primary.

Kemp, a former Georgia secretary of state who defeated superstar Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in both 2018 and 2022, had been promoted by many Republicans as a viable conservative contender after he won reelection in the Peach State, which will be one of the most hotly contested swing states next year.

While Kemp quickly ruled out any talk of a presidential bid of his own, he did offer candid opinions about the candidates in the race — like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — as well as those who may to enter the primary in the coming weeks and months.

"I have a great relationship with Pence and a really good relationship with [Florida Gov.] DeSantis. Chris Christie came and campaigned for us multiple times, along with a lot of other governors," Kemp told The Journal.

"I know Tim Scott real well. Nikki Haley came and campaigned for us. I've known her over the years, and I've gotten to meet [Mike] Pompeo a couple of times. So I'm kind of like everybody else, I'm just seeing how things are playing out and keeping an open mind," he added.

But when it came to former President Donald Trump, who famously clashed with Kemp after the governor refused to help him overturn now-President Joe Biden's nearly 12,000-vote win in Georgia in the 2020 election, the governor told The Journal the former president has not reached to him about the 2024 race.

"Yeah, I haven't heard from Trump," he said.