If Brian Kemp successfully vanquishes David Perdue, the win might have implications that extend far beyond this spring’s primary, which has become a litmus test for the future of the GOP
LOUISVILLE, Georgia—It may have taken Gov. Brian Kemp a good half-hour to get there, but during his speech at a recent campaign stop in this small east Georgia town he allowed himself to acknowledge the truth about the state of his Republican primary contest against former Sen. David Perdue.Laughs rang out from the room, which was packed with local luminaries and Kemp supporters tucking into sliced ham and bright pink cake, courtesy of the governor.
That much was clear at a debate between the two men on Sunday night, which ended up being a bare-knuckled brawl over the 2020 election. Perdue blamed Kemp for his and Trump’s losses—and Kemp called him “weak” for trying to avoid accountability for his humiliating loss. In that scenario, anything can happen—so much so that in Georgia, local politicos often joke that the first-place spot is “cursed” in a runoff.If you want to argue with Brian Kemp’s record, tell me what he’s done wrong? I don’t have a thing against David Perdue. He’s not the guy.Just ask Perdue, who lost to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a 2021 runoff after leading him by over 80,000 votes after the 2020 general election.
For one, it shows that even the most devoted Republicans simply aren’t making decisions based on Trump’s endorsements or his fixation on the 2020 election—a potential boon to Republican leaders who have been urging candidates nationwide to focus on Democrats’ handling of the economy and COVID instead.
Max Flugrath, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia, said Kemp is “facing an onslaught of brutal attacks” from Perdue and, in “fighting for his political life,” has embraced “extreme and unpopular” positions. This statement was just the latest in a slew of broadsides from the ex-president, who has never forgiven Kemp for declining to overturn the 2020 election in his state.The day before Kemp toured east Georgia on his campaign bus, news broke that a TV ad offensive against Kemp, to the tune of $500,000. Asked by The Daily Beast to respond, the governor did not mention the ex-president’s name.
Instead, Kemp has remained focused on his record as governor with the urgency of someone convinced that his policy accomplishments are his best asset in this tough campaign—even if his plodding determination to get through every last item means he sometimes loses a crowd. “If you want to argue with Brian Kemp’s record, tell me what he’s done wrong?” Burns said. “I don’t have a thing against David Perdue. He’s not the guy.”
“David Perdue seems to be caught in the past, without a plan,” said Jason Shepherd, the former chairman of the GOP in Cobb County, just outside Atlanta. “His campaign is trying to run to the right of the most conservative Republican governor that Georgia has ever had.”