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EXCLUSIVE – Former Republican Sen. David Perdue on Monday declared his candidacy for governor of Georgia governor, with the purpose of defeating Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in subsequent 12 months’s election within the essential battleground state.
Perdue’s transfer, coming after months of encouragement by former President Donald Trump to run for governor, units up an epic GOP main battle with incumbent conservative Gov. Brian Kemp, who for a 12 months has confronted the former president’s rath for not overturning the 2020 election ends 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 an announcement and video announcement shared first with Fox News.
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Abrams, the voting rights champion and rising star within the Democratic Party who was thought-about as a 2020 operating mate for now President Biden, final week launched a 2022 marketing campaign for governor. The former Georgia House Democratic chief who in 2018 made historical past as the primary Black lady gubernatorial nominee of a significant political celebration, narrowly misplaced to Kemp by lower than 55,000 votes out of almost 4 million solid within 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 purpose at each the governor and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who’s additionally been blasted by the former president for refusing to overturn Trump’s slim defeat in Georgia to now President Biden. And Raffensperger’s additionally dealing with a Trump backed main problem, from GOP Rep. Jody Hice.
Perdue, a former company chief govt officer who was elected to the Senate in 2014, was defeated in his bid for a second time period 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 within the different contest, handing the Democrats the Senate majority.
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“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 gave the impression to be pointing in direction of a sweeping overhaul of the best way Georgia elections have been administered, that Kemp quietly signed into legislation in 2019. Some of the provisions, which have been backed by Democrats, addressed issues raised throughout Kemp’s 2018 victory over Abrams relating to how nonwhite voters have been handled. The legislation, which was permitted by Georgia’s legislature, blocked county election officers from rejecting absentee ballots attributable to mismatched signatures and prevented folks from being kicked off the voting rolls attributable to data that doesn’t match authorities databases.
“Let me be very clear – over my dead body will we EVER give Stacy Abrams control of our elections again,” Perdue pressured.
FILE – In this Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, file picture, Stacey Abrams speaks to Biden supporters as they look ahead to former President Barack Obama to reach and converse at a marketing campaign rally for Biden at Turner Field in Atlanta. Abrams is anticipated to make one other gubernatorial run in 2022. Boosted by President Biden’s win and two U.S. Senate victories, high-profile Democratic candidates in Georgia are operating for statewide workplace in a means unseen in years. Seven sitting Democratic lawmakers have already declared candidacies for one in all Georgia’s eight statewide workplaces — a full 9 months away from the 2022 qualifying deadline. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
(AP )
The former senator emphasised 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 emphasised.
Ahead of Perdue’s formal announcement, Kemp reelection marketing campaign senior adviser Cody Hall charged that “the man who lost Republicans the United States Senate and brought the last year of skyrocketing inflation, open borders, runaway government spending, and woke cancel culture upon the American people now wants to lose the Georgia governor’s office to the national face of the radical left movement.”
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“Perdue’s only reason for running is to sooth his own bruised ego, because his campaign for U.S Senate failed to inspire voters at the ballot box – twice. Governor Kemp has a proven track record of fighting the radical left to put hardworking Georgians first, while Perdue is best known for ducking debates, padding his stock portfolio during a pandemic, and losing winnable races,” Hall claimed.
Kemp, in an interview last week with Fox News, famous that “David’s told me he was going to support my campaign for governor. Until something happens otherwise, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I can’t control who may be getting in the race.”
And taking an obvious jab at Perdue’s reasoning for leaping into the race, the governor mentioned, “I’ve been in the fight for all these issues … I’m going to keep being in the fight. You know if somebody else wants to get into that fight, you just have to ask them why?”
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, at a marketing campaign occasion in Athens, Georgia in June 18, 2021.
(Brian Kemp )
Biden edged Trump by lower than 12,000 votes out of almost 5 million solid in Georgia. The ballots in Georgia have been counted thrice – the unique Election Day rely, a compulsory hand recount and a recount requested by the then-president’s marketing campaign. Infuriated with the governor, Trump has repeated vowed to return to Georgia to marketing campaign towards Kemp for failing to assist him overturn the outcomes.
“The MAGA base will just not vote for him after what he did with respect to election integrity and two horribly run elections, for President and then two Senate seats,” Trump mentioned in a current assertion. “But some good Republican will run, and some good Republican will get my endorsement, and some good Republican will WIN!”
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And current polling from Trump’s ‘Save America’ political motion committee steered Perdue may high Kemp in subsequent 12 months’s GOP main with the former president’s backing.
Perdue, who introduced early this 12 months that he wouldn’t make a 2022 bid to attempt to return to the Senate, has been urged for months by Trump to main problem Kemp. And the former president, at a September rally in Perry, Georgia, pointed to Perdue.
“Are you running for governor, David?” Trump requested. “Did I hear he’s running?”
Then Senator David Perdue speaks at a Defend The Majority marketing campaign occasion attended by then Vice President Mike Pence on December 17, 2020 in Columbus, Georgia. Perdue on Dec. 6, 2021 introduced his candidacy for governor of Georgia. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
((Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images))
Perdue, in saying his bid, mentioned that his “bold vision for our state is very simple: Completely eliminate the state income tax, it’s time. Make our cities and state safe again. Take charge of our schools – put parents in charge, not the woke left.”
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“I’ve spent my life in the real world getting results and creating thousands of jobs. The values and work ethic I learned growing up in Middle Georgia have guided me all my life… and they’ll guide me as Governor,” he emphasised.
Even earlier than Perdue’s announcement, Kemp was already dealing with a main problem from former state Rep. Vernon Jones – a Democrat turned Republican and main Trump supporter.
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