“Fiasco” Appointment Process Gets Worse As Kemp Expected to Name Political Donor Despite Conservative Opposition

Georgia Republicans’ intra-party feud keeps grabbing headlines at a time when GOP can least afford fighting around “dangerous” Senate choice

Atlanta — Despite widespread conservative blowback, Governor* Brian Kemp is expected to name political donor Kelly Loeffler to the U.S. Senate, managing to make the “fiasco” appointment process worse for himself and his party’s chances of keeping the seat. 

This morning, despite feeble attempts by Republicans to repair the massive self-inflicted damage already done, the AJC reported that their “internecine war” has gotten so out of hand that even local Republicans have found the latest attacks “particularly unnerving.” And this comes after Republicans decided to “go nuclear” this weekend after a member of Kemp’s own party in Congress questioned his “judgement” and called for him to be primaried. 

The result of all this infighting? A “scathing back-and-forth” between Kemp’s allies and conservative activists as Kemp seeks to appoint an ultra-wealthy political donor who has already been called “unacceptable,” “the wrong choice” and “disqualified” by the Republican base. Given the enormous backlash Kemp has already managed to produce, it’s no wonder that Georgia Republican activists are going on the record to trash Kemp’s process as “a fiasco.”

And even with warning signs for the GOP ahead of 2020, the risk of “an all-out Republican feud on next year’s ballot” is looming — with the possibility of “a divisive 2020 battle at a time when Republicans can ill afford discord.”

“This self-inflicted disaster has left Georgia Republicans reeling, and worse yet is the appointment Governor Kemp is poised to make,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “By handpicking a political donor, Governor Kemp is proving that his own application process was a sham from the start.”

Read more:

• AJC: The Jolt: Brian Kemp paints himself into a corner
• POLITICO: Georgia governor set to buck Trump on Senate appointment
• AJC: Kemp aides go nuclear on ‘cowardly’ criticism of Senate favorite
• Wall Street Journal: Georgia Governor, Trump Appear at Odds Over Senate Pick
• Fox News: Matt Gaetz backs Trump pick for Georgia Senate seat, warns governor to do same: ‘Maybe you need a primary in 2022’
• POLITICO: Georgia governor faces heat from right over woman he favors for Senate vacancy

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