Georgia will choose its Republican candidates for three major roles on Tuesday: governor, secretary of state and U.S. Senate.
All three races — especially those of incumbents Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) — are happening against the backdrop of ex-President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Here’s an overview of the Republican throwdowns in the Peach State to watch on Tuesday:
Governor
The race between Kemp and ex-senator David Perdue — whose main (if not entire) campaign platform has consisted of falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump — is really Trump’s proxy war on Kemp, who earned the ex-president’s fury by refusing to help him subvert the 2020 election results.
Unfortunately for Trump, Kemp seems to be on track to absolutely destroy Perdue tomorrow, something the ex-president seems to be aware of: NBC News reported last week that Trump has essentially given up on his man (the ex-president, of course, furiously denied that report on his TRUTH Social app).
Additionally, Kemp’s been enjoying widespread support not just from fellow Georgia Republicans, but from out-of-state GOP governors and ex-vice president Mike Pence as well, much to Trump’s rage.
And, well, Perdue himself was never super gung-ho about challenging Kemp in the first place even as Trump pushed him to do so, according to the Washington Post: It reportedly wasn’t until after Trump took Perdue golfing four times that the ex-senator caved and launched a gubernatorial bid.
Secretary Of State
Raffensperger is fighting to keep his role as Georgia’s top elections official after he infamously rejected Trump’s demand that he somehow “find” the votes needed to overturn Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Like Kemp, Raffensperger became a lightening rod for Trump’s fury after the 2020 election. He’s now become a prominent target for election-denying MAGA Republicans seeking to replace elections officials in Georgia and around the country, who aim to take control of the elections process as they peddle conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
One those MAGA Republicans, Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), raised eyebrows last year when he announced a bid against Raffensperger; it’s a bizarre move for a sitting member of Congress to leave their post to pursue a bureaucratic role in state government. Trump quickly endorsed Hice afterward.
Senate
The six Republicans in this race are vying for Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (R-GA) seat.
Former NFL star Herschel Walker, a Trump endorsee and evolution skeptic, has emerged as a focal point of the primary fight due to a seemingly endless stream of scandals ranging from snake oil promotion to lying about his educational achievements and business ventures to alleged domestic abuse.
And yes, he’s dutifully parroted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
