Republican Tori Branum, a former U.S. Marine and firearms instructor, has announced her candidacy for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District, challenging incumbent Rick Allen in the 2026 GOP primary.
Branum, who lives in the Dublin area, said she is running a grassroots campaign focused on engaging directly with voters.
“I’m going to knock doors, go to businesses, have town halls, put signs out, do it the way that real American grassroots candidates do it,” she said.
A former Marine Corps marksmanship instructor, Branum, 47, served for eight years before marrying an Air Force serviceman and settling in Warner Robins. She ran a nine-week primary campaign for a Georgia state Senate seat in 2024, earning 25% of the vote, but said Congress is where she can make the biggest impact.
“I gave him a good run for nine weeks, but I can’t help veterans at a state level,” she said.
Focus on veterans’ issues and the Second Amendment
Branum, who has firsthand experience navigating Veterans Affairs healthcare, has criticized what she describes as a lack of responsiveness to veterans’ needs, particularly at the Dublin VA.
“We need to have someone that really wants to handle the issues of helping veterans,” she said. “The things that need to be done aren’t being done.”
A staunch Second Amendment advocate, Branum teaches firearms classes to women and supports concealed carry but opposes open carry.
“I’m concealed carry, not open,” she said. “I think it makes you a target. And I think most of the people in the gun world would agree. I like the element of surprise.”
She argued that many politicians claim to support gun rights without fully understanding firearms.
“A lot of people are 2A to get elected. They don’t necessarily carry regularly, and probably wouldn’t know how to operate one on their own,” she said. “I don’t just support the 2A—I am the 2A.”
Patriotism, military experience and term limits
Branum described her time in the Marines as formative, shaping her views on leadership, teamwork and diversity.
“We didn’t care if you were Black, White, Asian—as long as you had my back and I had yours,” she said. “The government has tried to make the military divisive, and our troops have never been that way.”
She supports congressional term limits and pledged to serve no more than two terms if elected.
“I want to serve eight years, go home, and live under the laws I’ve created,” she said. “I believe that it’s time we have younger people in Congress with fresh ideas.”
Background in agriculture to social media influencer
To the rural expanse of Georgia’s 12th, Branum also brings an upbringing with Oklahoma cattle ranchers and Iowa hog farmers, prior to locating in Albany, Ga., as a teen. She said she looks forward to receiving campaign support from family in the hog industry.
Branum, who also has a background in psychology and behavioral therapy, said farmers need personal attention when their industry faces disasters.
“You need to be out talking to your famers when their crops get destroyed,” she said.
Branum, whose children range in age from seven to a veterans themselves, currently teaches firearms classes to women – she’s headed to Butler County, Pa., to teach one and is soon offering one in Augusta – and stays busy as a social media influencer.
She has 231,000 followers on Facebook and was up to 150,000 on TikTok before her account got shut down over a post about former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Her new account is up to about 70,000 followers.
