Georgia Governor Brian Kemp may have another Republican opponent as he vies for reelection next year.
The Intelligencer reported this week that former U.S. Senator David Perdue is mulling whether to compete against Kemp.
The website quoted anonymous Republican Party activists and operatives.
“In recent weeks, Perdue has called donors and other allies to float the idea, according to eight people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters,” The Intelligencer reported.
“Several of them said he’s ‘conflicted” about a run, while others say he’s leaning toward a challenge.”
The Hill, meanwhile, reported that certain people have speculated for months that Perdue might try to replace Kemp.
“If Perdue runs, however, he would likely secure [former President Donald] Trump’s endorsement,” The Hill wrote.
“The former president sees him as an ally and even appeared to encourage him to run during a rally in Georgia in September.”
Perdue conceded his reelection bid for the U.S. Senate earlier this year to current U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
That election was marred by controversy after the November elections, wherein President Joe Biden eked out a victory over Trump after a historic number of Americans were allowed to vote using absentee ballots.
Perdue announced in February that he will not mount a comeback bid against U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in 2022.
Former Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones, a Democrat-turned-Republican, announced in April that he wanted to compete for Kemp’s job.
Members of the Georgia General Assembly pushed Kemp to call a special legislative session before the U.S. Senate runoff elections last January. The special session did not happen. Had such a special session occurred then state legislators would likely have addressed the appointed presidential electors and the implementation of laws limiting voter fraud in the general election runoff.
Kemp, last December, would not use his authority to change the date of the state’s two U.S. Senate elections from January 5 to February 1 of this year. Moving back the date might have given members of the Georgia General Assembly additional time to coordinate and develop ways to prevent potential election fraud.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Georgia Capitol” by Autiger. CC BY-SA 2.0.
