State Sen. Brandon Beach announced Thursday that he was dropping out of the GOP primary to take on freshman Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District and would instead run for re-election.
Beach told supporters that Gov. Brian Kemp had convinced him that he could “help more Georgians in the positions I currently hold,” but unnamed sources close to the senator told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Beach was deterred in part by the Democratic gains in the Nov. 5 local elections in the Atlanta suburbs. One Beach ally told the paper that the results led Beach to decide that, while he’s willing to run in an uphill contest, he’s not interested in a “suicide mission.”
A few other Republicans are still campaigning in the May primary for a suburban Atlanta seat that has been moving sharply to the left in recent years. The best-known and best-funded contender remains former Rep. Karen Handel, who narrowly lost re-election against McBath last year. Handel raised $252,000 during the third quarter of 2019, and she ended September with $631,000 in the bank.
Construction company owner Marjorie Greene, who has a habit of sharing far-right conspiracy theories, took in just $102,000 during the last quarter. However, thanks to some previous self-funding, she had $498,000 to spend. A third Republican, Merchant Marine veteran Nicole Rodden, had only $31,000 in the bank.
McBath has been a strong fundraiser since she got to D.C., and that didn’t change during the last quarter. McBath hauled in $614,000, and she ended September with $1.3 million in the bank.
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