Clues about post-Trump politics await in Georgia
“The party has a real choice to make on where we go from here,” said Michael McNeely, a former Georgia Republican vice chairman. Trump fueled Republican turnout, especially in rural areas and small towns, that overwhelmed Democrats in states less diverse than Georgia. Plenty of Georgia Republicans embrace Trump’s imprint, at least publicly. “Absolutely four Republican votes in this house,” she said, including her young adult children casting absentee ballots. But all three are Democratic districts, and they include the two most concentrated Democratic districts, the 4th and 5th in the metro Atlanta core.
Perdue seeks payoff from Trump loyalty in Georgia runoff
“He’s not flamboyant,” said Alec Poitevint, a Georgia businessman and GOP activist who serves as Perdue’s campaign chairman. Perdue's runoff campaign has focused on ensuring Trump's base shows up to vote again. Though Perdue hasn’t repeated Trump’s election fraud claims, he backed a failed Texas lawsuit that sought to invalidate Biden’s victory in Georgia. After the “Access Hollywood” recording of Trump boasting about groping women surfaced in the 2016 campaign, Perdue acknowledged that “this guy's no choir boy." Aside from rallies with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, Perdue has sought to avoid the media spotlight.
Biden tells Georgia he needs a Democratic Senate to govern
ATLANTA – President-elect Joe Biden told Georgia voters on Tuesday they must deliver two Democratic Senate runoffs victories in January so his administration can forcefully confront the coronavirus pandemic and other national challenges. “They fully embraced nullifying nearly 5 million Georgia votes,” said Biden, the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the state since 1992. Democrats would need to win both Georgia seats to force a 50-50 Senate, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaking vote. Republicans need one of the two Georgia seats for McConnell to remain majority leader and set the Senate agenda. Biden also used the trip to catch up with key supporters who helped him win Georgia.
Trump headed to Georgia as runoff boost, but also a threat
President Donald Trump participates in a video teleconference call with members of the military on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, at the White House in Washington. Republicans acknowledge Trump as the GOP’s biggest turnout driver, including in Georgia, where Biden won by fewer than 13,000 votes out of about 5 million cast. “Followers of Trump will follow Trump, but they’re not blind to the huge stakes. Before November, Democrats dreaded a second Trump term more than Republicans feared Trump losing, Robinson reasoned. “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome” the president “back to Georgia,” Loeffler wrote on Twitter after Trump confirmed his plans.
Twin Senate runoffs in Georgia could shape potential Biden presidency
Republican candidate for Senate Sen. David Perdue speaks during a campaign stop at Peachtree Dekalb Airport Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Atlanta. But if the Democratic challenger wins, the ambitions of a Biden presidency could well come down to Georgia. But if the Democratic challenger wins, the ambitions of a Biden presidency could well come down to Georgia. That was cemented Friday evening when Democrat Jon Ossoff and Georgia Sen. David Perdue narrowly advanced to a second round after three days of vote counting. Otherwise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, could wield the power to block Biden.
Jack Kingston joins hunt for Johnny Isakson's Senate seat
ATLANTA - The former congressman for Georgia's coastal congressional district is the latest Republican to join the hunt to replace retiring GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia. Jack Kingston announced Thursday that he submitted an application to Georgia Gov. Kingston, who lives in Savannah, represented Georgia's 1st Congressional District from 1993 to 2015, but lost a GOP runoff for Senate in 2014 to Sen. David Perdue. With a congressional impeachment inquiry looming, Kingston said he was a strident defender of President Donald Trump. Whoever Kemp appoints to the position will need to defend the seat in a November 2020 special election for the remaining two years of Isakson's term.