By Cheyenne Galloway
WASHINGTON, DC – Former President Donald Trump was met with another electoral defeat in the Georgia Primaries this week in an attempt to settle previous scores against several Republicans who he has said didn’t help “win” the 2020 election.
Trump was determined to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp—a conservative Republican but not backed by Trump—by supporting his opponent David Perdue.
Trump’s motives behind this stem from two years ago when Gov. Brian Kemp refused to join Trump’s efforts in overturning the state’s presidential election in his favor.
But Kemp won easily on election day after maintaining a wide lead over Perdue. Kemp’s advantage over Trump-backed Perdue suggests the former president’s support alone was not enough against well-established incumbent Kemp.
Ultimately, the winner in the Georgia primaries—Kemp—will face Democrat Stacy Abrams in November, which is expected to be one of the most high-profile governor races.
Trump’s intense involvement in GOP primaries has been contested by several Republicans. Additionally, Trump-backed candidates in Georgia have faced difficulty similar to Kemp.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who denied Trump’s request that he “find” votes in 2020, won the party’s nomination outright—no runoff—for re-election against the Trump-backed Congressman Jody Hice.
Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr defeated John Gordon, who made Trump’s stolen election claim a central plank of his campaign.
And, Republicans have questions about Trump-backed candidate Herschel Walker, the former football star who will be challenging Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
“When you get to Warnock, he’s going to have all the money in the world to spend and how heavy he is going to come after another African American that’s a football legend, I don’t know,” Rep. Lynn Westmoreland said.
“But these outside groups are going to kill him. I love Herschel, but when you start debating a man that’s been in the pulpit—Warnock—for 40 years, that’s tough on anybody.”
