by Dave Williams | Feb 1, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Republican gubernatorial candidate David Perdue touts his endorsement by former President Donald Trump in the first television ad of his campaign to oust incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in May’s GOP primary.
Trump appears on camera in the ad, released Tuesday, criticizing Kemp for refusing to help overturn the results of the 2020 presidential voting in Georgia that saw President Joe Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the Peach State since Bill Clinton in 1992.
“Brian Kemp let us down,” Trump says in the ad. “We can’t let it happen again.”
In the second half of the ad, Trump goes on to describe Perdue, who served one term in the U.S. Senate before losing to Democrat Jon Ossoff early last year, as “an outstanding man. He’s tough. He’s smart. He has my complete and total endorsement.”
Kemp, who is seeking a second term as governor, has dismissed Perdue’s campaign as fueled by anger over his loss to Ossoff.
Besides Kemp and Perdue, other Republican candidates running for governor include former state Rep. Vernon Jones, educator Kandiss Taylor and human resources executive Catherine Davis.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination unopposed.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Perdue was a boring, distant, ineffective, old white guy, US senator who didn’t rally Republicans to retain his senate seat. Trump endorsing him is the kiss of death for many independent and moderate voters who liked Trump’s policies, but hated his delivery. Kemp told the feds to stuff their COVID lockdowns and mandates to minimize the negative impacts to Georgia’s citizens and economy. Would Perdue have had the backbone to do that? Would he have beaten Stacey Abrams in 2018 and can he in 2022?
That is the best reason I have to NOT vote for Perdue. Trump needs to sit down and shut up, but like Clinton and Obama, his narcissism won’t let him. Just go away already.
Perdue couldn’t defend his seat as an incumbent U.S. Senator…how can we possibly trust him to lead our state.
Not voting for him
Trump would do well to keep out of Georgia politics. His constant yammering about the election is what cost him a loss in Georgia. Many people did not go to the polls because of his “stolen election prediction”. Kemp has done a good job of keeping Georgia in business during the pandemic. We have a budget surplus and are financially sound unlike many other states. If Trump keeps interfering and divides the republican/independent vote, we could end up with Abrams. Perdue will not get my vote.