WATKINSVILLE, Ga. — David Perdue’s quest to unseat a longtime friend and fellow Republican, Gov. Brian Kemp, drew some cheers Monday evening at a gathering of about 50 Republicans around a pickup truck in this deeply conservative town about 70 miles east of Atlanta. The former U.S. senator spent most of his nine-minute stump speech embracing unproven claims that fraud tainted the 2020 election — and accusing Kemp of doing nothing about it.
In theory, it’s the sort of message that should appeal to Don McGeary, a retired banker and supporter of former president Donald Trump who believes the fraud claims. But McGeary, 71, was not impressed.
“We can’t do anything about it,” McGeary said about the 2020 result, adding that he intends to vote for Kemp. “It’s water over the dam, under the bridge, however you want to refer to it. Let’s get over it and get on with our lives.”
Unfortunately for Perdue — and for Trump — many Republican voters in Georgia appear to agree. Trump handpicked the former senator to challenge and defeat Kemp after the governor defied the then-president and certified Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state.
But with less than a month to go before the May 24 primary, Perdue’s laserlike focus on election fraud seems to be falling flat. Kemp, who has assiduously avoided criticizing Trump, has logged double-digit leads in recent public polls and enjoys a vast fundraising advantage. Party insiders credit him with deftly maneuvering around the anger over 2020,...
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