by Dave Williams | Dec 8, 2021 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A new poll conducted since former U.S. Sen. David Perdue entered the 2022 Republican primary race for governor shows him neck and neck with incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp.
Perdue and Kemp each drew support from 34% of 500 likely GOP primary voters when the respondents were informed that former President Donald Trump has endorsed Perdue, according to a survey conducted the evening of Dec. 6 by FOX 5 and InsiderAdvantage.
The poll was conducted on the same day Perdue both formally entered the race and received Trump’s blessing.
When asked to declare their preference before being informed of the Trump endorsement, the respondents supported Kemp 41% to 22%.
“This shows the amazing impact that a Trump endorsement can have on a Republican primary and certainly in Georgia,” InsiderAdvantage Chairman Matt Towery said. “This should be a huge additional wakeup call to national GOP leaders and candidates as to the political might of Trump.”
Trump has been urging Perdue for months to challenge fellow Republican Kemp, who drew Trump’s ire when he refused to back the then-president’s attempts to overturn 2020 presidential election results that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry Georgia by nearly 12,000 votes.
Perdue’s entry into the contest promises a bitter struggle that’s bound to further divide Republicans in Georgia.
“This race will be what I often refer to as a ‘Town versus Gown’ contest,” Towery said. “While the more suburban and politically connected ‘Gown’ Republicans will favor Kemp, the working class and more exurban and rural GOP voters will be more likely to support Perdue.”
On the Democratic side, former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who lost a close election to Kemp in 2018, appears to enjoy a clear path to her party’s nomination next spring.
The Republican poll found former state Rep. Vernon Jones and Appling County educator Kandiss Taylor far behind Kemp and Perdue. The survey had an error rate of plus-or-minus 4.5%.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
My prediction, Kemp is out, Perdue is in.
I am a moderate conservative and a Kemp supporter based on his business acumen. Georgia is on solid ground as a business-friendly state. Our budget is balanced (as our constitution dictates) and we are cash-rich compared to many other states. Take a close look at Californian’s bank account. What a joke. Even though I usually vote for Republican’s, I am willing to take a left turn on voting for anyone that Donald Trump endorses. And yes, now that I am old and wise, I do believe that a man’s (or woman’s) character and honesty matter. Mr. Trump should fade into the sunset and enjoy his retirement. I’ll stick with Kemp!
If you are a RINO or Trump Hater then that means you would support Abrams over Purdue if he beats Kemp in the primary. It also says you really don’t deserve to be called a Republican. So join the baby-killing, socialist left-wing Democrats trying to ruin Georgia and America, and vote your heart out. Your side will lose, even if it is only after you die and go to HELL for working against GOD.
Advantage Adams
Sorry, Abrams
Here we go again with more internal cat fighting by Republicans that will cost them the governorship. They didn’t learn anything from the Loeffler-Collins mess that gave Warnock the Senate seat. I voted twice for Trump, but only for his policies, political and economic leadership, and calling out the Democrats and media for their bias and lies. Unfortunately, his ego, political grudges, and continuing whining about the 2020 election are unbearable. He provides no help in defeating Democrat candidates when he endorses the one Republican candidate who never disagreed with him. David Perdue was a lackluster, boring, old-guard Republican Senator whose legislative production was only slightly better than Senator Obama’s. Kemp is not a Trump yes-man, and I admire that.
I will never vote for anyone Trump supports
Kemp re-elected