Georgia governor celebrates MLB All-Star Game's return to Atlanta after 2021 voting law controversy

The 2025 MLB All-Star Game is heading back to Atlanta, four years after outcry over a Republican-backed election integrity law led the league to pull the event from the Peach State.

Now, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says Major League Baseball has "righted" its decision, creating opportunities for vendors and local businesses, as well as Truist Park's hosting franchise, the Atlanta Braves.

"We're excited about the game finally being here. It should have been here several years ago. They never should have pulled it to start with, but thankfully the game's coming back," Kemp told "Fox & Friends" on Monday. 

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Brian Kemp, governor of Georgia, speaks during an election night rally in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.  (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"It's good for the Braves organization. It's good for all the vendors and small business people in and around the ballpark and in the city of Atlanta up in Cobb County and really for our whole state."

Kemp said such businesses were devastated as the COVID-19 pandemic drew to a close at the time.

The 2021 All-Star Game, which was slated to take place at Truist Park, was moved to Denver after Georgia lawmakers placed new restrictions on voting by mail, added voter ID requirements and limited ballot drop boxes with the Election Integrity Act of 2021. 

The law also expanded weekend voting and banned outside groups from handing out food or water to those in line for the polls.

Critics accused the law of suppressing the votes of racial minorities. Then-President Joe Biden called the law "Jim Crow on steroids."

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The All-Star Game logo on a sign at Truist Park during a game between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels in the third inning.  (Brett Davis-Imagn Images)

At the time, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the decision to move the game was "the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport."

Kemp, on Monday, cited "increased participation" among minority voters in Georgia and criticized Democrats and the national media for "overplay[ing]" the election integrity measures with their criticism.

"They didn't know what was in the bill, and we did, and we stood our ground, and we stood for our values of having secure, accessible and fair elections in Georgia and making it easy to vote and hard to cheat, and they were just wrong on this issue…" he said, suggesting the league should apologize for its prior decision.

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"It's really a tragedy it [pulling the game] ever happened. But, in some ways, it helped galvanize our state. It helped to galvanize our local community for people to say, 'You know what? We're tough Georgians, we're going to fight through this, we're not going to bow down to corporate greed or corporate boardrooms that are worried about getting targeted by groups like Stacey Abrams,'" he continued.

Kemp anticipates a "great economic week" for his state as baseball fans gather to watch the sport's top stars take the field.

The 95th Midsummer Classic is scheduled for July 15th and will mark the third time Atlanta has hosted the game.

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.