Perdue to GOP Activists: “The State of Georgia Is in Play”

Perdue admits on a private call with activists that Republicans are in trouble as Georgia is more competitive than ever

ATLANTA — Yesterday, a bombshell new report revealed that Senator David Perdue warned activists on a private call that “the state of Georgia is in play” and pointed to an “influx of new Democrats in Georgia” as the latest sign that the state is more competitive than ever.

In a dire — and private — warning to members of his own party, Perdue cited the “increasingly tight races” in Georgia over the past few years that make him especially vulnerable this cycle. But even despite these trends, Perdue is already dealing with a rough reelection campaign as a result of his stock trading scandal, forcing him to face Georgia voters who struggled to manage the coronavirus outbreak while Perdue was apparently busy protecting his financial portfolio.

Perdue’s comments also come as his fellow Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler remains locked in “a ferocious and personal fight” with Congressman Doug Collins — and as she also comes under fire for her coronavirus stock trades. With all three politicians on the ballot in this election, Republican National Committeewoman Ginger Howard might have summed it up best when it comes to the GOP’s 2020 chances: “The truth hurts.”

“Even Senator David Perdue admits that Georgia is more ‘in play’ than ever this cycle as Republicans remain focused on fighting with each other and trying to distract from their scandals while ignoring the growing numbers of new Georgia voters,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “After months of infighting and newly revealed unseemly stock trades, Georgians are ready to elect senators who work for them, not self-serving politicians focused on protecting their financial portfolios and scoring political points with the White House.”

Read more about Perdue’s dire warning for the GOP’s chances in 2020:

CNN: GOP senator gives activists grim 2020 assessment amid fears over holding Senate

• Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican up for reelection and a close Trump confidant, issued a blunt warning to GOP activists during an off-the-record conference call this week: Democrats are in position to turn his state blue and take the Senate.

• “Here’s the reality: The state of Georgia is in play,” Perdue said Monday, according to an audio recording of a call with “Women for Trump” obtained by CNN. “The Democrats have made it that way.”

• Already facing the prospect of defending the Senate with an unpopular Republican president in an election cycle with more seats to defend than to target, Republicans are up against a bevy of well-funded Democratic challengers and are now navigating a public health and economic crisis that has injected deep uncertainty into the national political landscape.

• Republicans are particularly concerned that the intraparty battles in Kansas and Georgia, two states Trump carried in 2016, could make it easier for Democrats to gain the three seats they need to take back the Senate if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidency since the vice president breaks a 50-50 tie.

• “We have had our wake-up call in Georgia,” Perdue said, detailing the state’s recent electoral history of increasingly tight races. Perdue said he needs to win “twice the number of votes” than he did in his 2014 campaign to keep his seat due to the influx of new Democrats in Georgia.

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