Incumbent Governor Sonny Perdue (R) was ineligible to seek re-election due to term limits. The Republican primary featured four candidates who received over 15% of the vote in the first round: former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former U.S. Representative Nathan Deal, former Georgia State Senator Eric Johnson, and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. Handel, Deal, and Johnson all resigned their offices during or shortly before the campaign. Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, the race went to a runoff between the top two candidates, Handel and Deal.