The former US Senator who lost to Jon Ossoff in the runoff elections of 2020 has just announced his bid to be governor of Georgia and is vowing to defeat both Brian Kemp and Stacy Abrams for the job.
Here’s his campaign announcement:
Here’s more from Fox News:
Former Republican Sen. David Perdue on Monday declared his candidacy for governor of Georgia governor, with the aim of defeating Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in next year’s election in the crucial battleground state.
Perdue’s move, coming after months of encouragement by former President Donald Trump to run for governor, sets up an epic GOP primary battle with incumbent conservative Gov. Brian Kemp, who for a year has faced the former president’s rath for not overturning the 2020 election results in Georgia.
“Make no mistake, Abrams will smile, lie and cheat to transform Georgia into her radical vision of a state that would look more like California or New York,” Perdue charged in a statement and video announcement shared first with Fox News.
Abrams, the voting rights champion and rising star in the Democratic Party who was considered as a 2020 running mate for now President Biden, last week launched a 2022 campaign for governor. The former Georgia House Democratic leader who in 2018 made history as the first Black woman gubernatorial nominee of a major political party, narrowly lost to Kemp by less than 55,000 votes out of nearly 4 million cast in the Peach State’s gubernatorial election.
“To fight back we simply have to be united. Unfortunately, today we are divided and Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger are to blame,” Perdue claimed, as he took aim at both the governor and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who’s also been blasted by the former president for refusing to overturn Trump’s narrow defeat in Georgia to now President Biden. And Raffensperger’s also facing a Trump backed primary challenge, from GOP Rep. Jody Hice.
Perdue, a former corporate chief executive officer who was elected to the Senate in 2014, was defeated in his bid for a second term by a razor-thin margin by Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s twin Jan. 5 runoff elections. Democrat Raphael Warnock edged Rep. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the other contest, handing the Democrats the Senate majority.
“Look, I like Brian. This isn’t personal. It’s simple. He has failed all of us and cannot win in November,” Perdue argued. “Instead of protecting our elections, he caved to Abrams and cost us the Senate majority and gave Joe Biden free reign. Think about how different it would be today if Kemp had fought Abrams first instead of fighting Trump. Kemp caved before the election and the country is paying the price today.”
Perdue appeared to be pointing towards a sweeping overhaul of the way Georgia elections were administered, that Kemp quietly signed into law in 2019. Some of the provisions, which were backed by Democrats, addressed concerns raised during Kemp’s 2018 victory over Abrams regarding how nonwhite voters were treated. The law, which was approved by Georgia’s legislature, blocked county election officials from rejecting absentee ballots due to mismatched signatures and prevented people from being kicked off the voting rolls due to information that doesn’t match government databases.
“Let me be very clear – over my dead body will we EVER give Stacy Abrams control of our elections again,” Perdue stressed.
The former senator emphasized that “it’s time for a change” and argued that “If our governor was ever going to fight for us, wouldn’t he have done it already?”
“We face an unprecedented onslaught from the woke left, in Georgia and across the country. We cannot keep giving in and caving to their demands. We simply must fight back to protect Georgia,” he emphasized.
I think Perdue sounds like a strong candidate and has a great chance to win this election outright and send Kemp packing. The Republican primary happens on May 24.