Former U.S. senator David Perdue plans to challenge Georgia governor Brian Kemp in the Republican primary next year, according to reports from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Politico.
The announcement, expected to be delivered via video on Monday, comes days after Democrat Stacey Abrams announced she would run for governor for a second time after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018. Perdue was recruited to run against the governor in the looming primary by Donald Trump and might be getting additional fundraising and endorsement support from the former president, reports Politico; the former Georgia senator, who was defeated by Democrat Jon Ossoff in a January runoff election, told allies he was motivated to join the race because he fears Kemp couldn’t repeat his victory over Adams.
“Trump’s endorsement matters to Republican voters and he’s going to be helpful because this race is important to him,” a Republican official who has advised Perdue to run against Kemp told Politico. Trump has repeatedly attacked Kemp for not supporting the former president’s efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate 2020 victory in the state. Meanwhile, a Kemp adviser told Politico that Trump’s endorsement will only go so far: “The economy is roaring in Georgia. Jobs are great. Taxes are low. So what’s Perdue’s reason to run? That he’s Trump’s lap dog? That dog don’t hunt. Lap dogs don’t hunt.”
