ATLANTA, Georgia – Incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp took rhetorical attacks from all of his opponents during the Georgia Public Broadcasting-hosted GOP gubernatorial debate that aired on Sunday evening.
The debate took place as part of The Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate series, which aired on GPBS.
Trump-endorsed David Perdue treated the other candidates cordially while training all of his fire against Kemp.
Perdue continued beating the drum that Kemp is the reason why the Georgia election issues occurred in both the November 2020 and 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs. “He let it happen,” the former senator said. “He denied it happened. He’s covering it up.”
Minor candidates Catherine Davis, Kandiss Taylor, and Tom Williams all attacked Kemp and repeated Perdue’s message.
Davis, in the post-debate scrum, said that she would not vote for Kemp in November if he were the GOP nominee.
The Perdue campaign claimed victory in all three debates. A Perdue spokesperson told reporters, “After three debates, the people of Georgia have clearly seen that Brian Kemp is a weak Governor who sold us out and cannot win in November. First, Kemp said ‘there’s fraud in every election,’ and he wants us to accept it and move on. Then, he admitted to keeping his ‘powder dry’ instead of making tough decisions. That’s not leadership – it’s cowardice.
“Georgians need a governor who will enforce our laws, stand strong for conservative values, and make waves and knock heads to get things done. David Perdue is proud to be endorsed by President Trump, and as governor, he will secure our elections, eliminate the state income tax, crush crime, and stop the indoctrination of our kids.”
The campaign spox added, “With early voting starting tomorrow, we encourage conservatives to get out and vote for the only candidate who can defeat Stacey Abrams in November – that’s David Perdue.”
One thing that Perdue and Kemp agreed on during the debate was that they planned to support the Republican nominee in the fall against Democrat Stacey Abrams, the prospect of which loomed large.
“You better win this race right now because if Stacey Abrams wins this race, we will not win a Senate majority this year and we will not win the presidency in 2024,” said Perdue.
Abrams was mentioned at least 19 times during the debate. The Georgia Star News recently reported that Abrams trails both Perdue and Kemp in hypothetical November matchups in the latest polling.
Both Perdue and Kemp skipped the post-debate press gaggle.
Watch the full debate broadcast:
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
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