Brian Kemp Projected to Defeat Trump-Backed David Perdue
Photo credit: John Baze, via Getty Images.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) will easily fend off a primary challenge from Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), according to a projection.
Insider and DecisionDeskHQ called the race before 8 p.m. ET. Kemp was leading Perdue by more than 72 points with 16% of precincts reporting.
BREAKING: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wins the GOP nomination & defeats Trump-endorsed primary challenger David Perdue, Insider and @DecisionDeskHQ project. Perdue is the third Trump-backed governor candidate to lose in as many weeks https://t.co/Sie3a6qeqA pic.twitter.com/zLhCJkWtjm
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) May 24, 2022
Kemp drew the ire if former President Donald Trump after he refused to lend credence to claims the 2020 election was stolen in Georgia.
Perdue, who embraced Trump’s claims during his campaign, never connected with Republican voters, despite the fact he was strongly endorsed by Trump.
Kemp will face Democrat Stacey Abrams in November for a rematch of the razor-thin 2018 race.
Abrams ran unopposed Tuesday. In their 2018 matchup, Kemp won by a mere 54,723 votes.
According to a recent general election poll from WXIA in Atlanta, Abrams trails Kemp by roughly five points in a hypothetical November matchup.
In an April survey, Kemp led Abrams 50% to 45% while 5% of voters said they were undecided. The survey polled 1,278 likely general election voters, and reported a margin of error at +/- 3.4%.
Last fall, Trump said the far-left Abrams might be an upgrade over Kemp for Georgians.
“When Stacey Abrams says I’m not going to concede, that’s okay,” he said. “Of course, having her I think might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know the truth… [She] might very well be better.”
Kemp praised Trump on Monday, despite the fact the former president has attacked him for more than a year.
Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked him about friction between Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, who supported Kemp’s re-election.
“Well, Martha, I would just say, you know, I’m very appreciative, still am, of everything that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence did for our state, especially during the pandemic,” Kemp said.
