David Perdue lost his U.S. Senate seat in Georgia’s January 2021 runoffs. | John Bazemore/AP Photo
By MARC CAPUTO
12/05/2021 12:42 PM EST
Updated: 12/05/2021 12:43 PM EST
Former Sen. David Perdue plans to announce he’ll challenge Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, setting up an epic Republican Party primary clash in one of the nation’s top battleground states.
Perdue, who was recruited to run against the governor by former President Donald Trump, intends to make his announcement Monday via video and file his paperwork at the same time, according to sources briefed on the plans.
The former senator has discussed getting additional fundraising and endorsement support from Trump and that it will be forthcoming, the sources said.
The looming Republican primary opens a new front in the Georgia GOP’s civil war, which traces back to Trump’s loss in Georgia in November.
Those divisions played a role in the twin defeats of both of the state’s Republican senators, Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, two months later in January runoff elections.
Adding to the high stakes: The winner will face Democrat Stacey Abrams, who announced last week that she’ll challenge Kemp, to whom she narrowly lost in 2018. A campaign featuring Abrams and Perdue would place Abrams’ signature issue — voting rights — as well as Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud at center stage.
Trump recruited Perdue to run against Kemp after the governor refused to help block his state’s election results — multiple recounts...
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