At Georgia GOP Convention, Senate Primary Continues to Cause Headaches

“Big-name Republicans” are skipping the race and Trump’s Hand-Picked Senate Candidate “MIA”

Trump’s top pick for U.S. Senate was “MIA,” a growing primary field leaned into debunked conspiracy theories for cheap applause lines, and the GOP relitigated 2020 instead of offering a clear vision for 2022. 

Here’s what you need to know about the messy Senate primary following the GOP Convention: 

• The race for the former president’s highly coveted endorsement is on, as Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black announced his entrance into the primary and publicly pleaded for Trump’s support. Failed politician Kelly Loeffler posted a photo with the former president and reiterated her loyalty just last week, while Rep. Buddy Carter continues to await Herschel Walker’s decision in deference to Trump.

• Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate, Herschel Walker, was “MIA” from the event altogether. As described in AJC’s The Jolt this AM, Walker “skipped the gathering” — and state GOP leaders and activists are “running out of patience” with the former president’s top choice.

• Meanwhile, Georgia Republicans are still trying to rewrite the past. The GOP convention was more focused on relitigating “false claims of widespread election fraud in 2020” and pushing a “forensic audit” of Fulton County’s 2020 election results than “project[ing] unity and chart[ing] out their strategy headed into 2022 races.”

“Potential GOP candidates for the Senate primary — at least the ones who showed up — spent the weekend relitigating debunked conspiracy theories and taking political litmus tests at the expense of Georgia,” said Dan Gottlieb, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia.  “It’s clear that the GOP Senate primary is shaping up to be a crowded race full of candidates who are completely out of touch with the challenges Georgians are facing.”