In Donald Trump’s attempt to radically reshape the Republican Party, few seats have a higher priority than Georgia. The former president has issued coveted approvals in races ranging from governor to state insurance commissioner. His support for football legend Herschel Walker essentially paved the way for the party’s candidacy for a crucial US Senate seat. Trump has been instrumental in shaping the governor’s race, recruiting former Sen. David Perdue to challenge incumbent President Brian Kemp in retaliation for not compromising with lies about stealing the 2020 election. to pave the way for Pardew, Trump pushed another Republican in the race – Vernon Jones – to run for Congress. Trump returned to Georgia on Saturday night for a May 24 rally to try to bolster Perdue in a campaign that emerges as an early, critical test of whether the former president can live up to his promise. of him as king. the GOP. “Before we can defeat the Democratic Socialists and the Communists … we must first defeat the RINO sell-outs and losers in the primary this spring,” Trump told the crowd, hitting Kemp again and again as he accused him of betraying Republican voters. with the mocking acronym, “Republican only in name.” “Brian Kemp is a coat. “He is a coward and it is a complete and utter disaster.” “Governor Kemp is focused on ensuring that Stacey Abrams will never be our governor or the next president,” said Cody Hall, Kemp’s communications director. There are warning signs for Trump. While Walker advances to the qualifiers with minimal opposition, other races are more complicated. Jones, for example, is now competing in a busy congressional qualifying round in which no one can exceed the 50% threshold required to avoid a run-off. Perdue, meanwhile, could be an even bigger challenge for the former president. He struggled to raise money and, in a Fox News poll released this month, was 50% to 39% behind Kemp. If that momentum were to work, Kemp would be within walking distance of qualifying, preventing a run-off. Speaking ahead of Trump’s arrival at a Commerce rally in northeastern Georgia, Perdue revealed a series of sharp attacks on Kemp as he parroted Trump’s election lies, saying “our 2020 election was completely stolen.” He accused Kemp of “selling out” Georgia voters through a series of actions, including refusing to convene a special legislative session before Jan. 6 to investigate or overturn the election. Kemp was required by state law to certify the results and has repeatedly said that any other course would cause endless controversy. No credible evidence has emerged to support Trump’s allegations of massive voter fraud. Federal and state election officials and Trump’s attorney general said the election was fair and the former president’s allegations were also flatly rejected by the courts, including those appointed by Trump. “By the way, where is Brian Kemp? “Where is Brian?” Perdue asked. “He’s not here. Do you know why? Because he’ve been kicking the president in the face for the last two years and saying ‘no’ every time the president asked for anything.” Perdue promised, if elected, to “make sure that those responsible for this fraud in 2020 go to jail,” as he escalated his rhetoric to mimic Trump’s rhetoric. Trump is obsessed with this once-Republican stronghold in the wake of the 2020 campaign, when he became the first Republican candidate for the presidency to lose the state in 28 years. He could still be central to his political future if he decides to run for the White House in 2024. That’s why his work in the state is so remarkable, as Trump is essentially gathering voters behind candidates who could continue to play crucial roles in certifying future elections in which he will run. He has already shown a great willingness to pressure officials to overturn results he does not like. In the last days of his rule, Trump has pressed Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Rafensperger to “find enough votes” to overturn Joe Biden’s victory, a debate now under investigation in Atlanta. The results in Georgia were certified after a triad of re-measurements, including one that was done partially by hand. Everyone confirmed Biden’s victory. Given the former president’s particular focus on Georgia, a stumbling block here could weaken his efforts elsewhere to defend candidates who have vowed allegiance to his vision for the GOP, which is dominated by electoral lies and cultural strife over issues related to the race and gender. Some of these candidates are already struggling. Trump canceled his support for Republican challenger Alabama Sen. Mo Brooks on Wednesday. He will travel to North Carolina next month to try to bolster his choice in the controversial North Carolina Senate by-election Republican Ted Bad, who is lagging behind in polls and fundraising over the former governor. McCrory. The election of Trump in the Pennsylvania GOP GOP primary has been withdrawn, and Trump has so far not sided with a candidate in the primary but melancholy Ohio State and Missouri primary. A Trump spokesman did not answer questions, but the former president, allies say, has been disappointed by Perdue’s failure to win traction. While Trump has put a lot of stock in his ratification record, so far he has refused to open his checkbook – despite the fact that his PAC opened that year with $ 120 million. Meanwhile, some of Trump’s top national rivals, including Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have not backed down from seeking re-election despite Trump more than promised he took care to defeat them. . Kemp, who is holding his own Saturday meeting with the Republican Party of Columbia in the suburbs of Augusta, said he had $ 12.7 million in his main campaign account on Jan. 31. That far surpassed Perdue, who had less than $ 1 million in cash by January. The current governor has pledged to offer an initial investment of at least $ 4.2 million in television commercials ahead of Georgia’s primary. Other Trump critics are stepping up spending, including GOP 2.0, a super PAC founded by Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who is not seeking re-election but has been heavily criticized by the former president for defending the 2020 election. Duncan, a Republican, said Trump’s ratification was not the “golden ticket” it once was, and his team was launching the first 30-second TV spot to date the former president’s rally. In it, Duncan disapproves of politicians “who prefer to talk about conspiracy theories and past losses, letting liberal extremists go in the wrong direction.” “You almost feel bad for David Perdue. “This (he) is leaving the board that Donald Trump has put here in Georgia,” Duncan said in an interview. “We will see a rally that will confuse the Georgians again and who knows what Donald Trump will say,” Duncan said. “He is going to settle a score,” Duncan added, referring to Trump, “and this is not a way to keep conservative leadership in power.” Despite these concerns, Trump is not backing down. Just this week, he backed the near-unknown John Gordon to challenge Attorney General Chris Carr. He also backed Patrick Whit to face Insurance Commissioner John King. Republican incumbents are the government officials most aligned with Kemp, the main target of Trump’s anger. Randy Evans, Trump’s former ambassador to Luxembourg, said the former president, by putting so much support up and down on the Georgia ballot, would allow Trump’s preferred candidates to bolster each other. Evans said Saturday’s event could elevate that group: “Trump’s winning media is just changing the momentum.” But Tanenblatt responded that Trump trying to influence so many races – including the dark ballots – just to compete with Kemp for the long-running 2020 election “almost undermines the president’s approval.” “I do not think that because he is the former president and someone the Republicans would prefer to President Biden, if he supports someone, it automatically means that he is the obvious successor who will win,” he said.
