GA-Gov: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that former Sen. David Perdue is “seriously considering” launching a Republican primary bid against Gov. Brian Kemp, an idea that seemed very unlikely just a few weeks ago. Perdue’s allies also, in the words of reporter Greg Bluestein, say that “Trump is expected to quickly endorse him” if he gets in.
Perdue has not said anything publicly, but Bluestein writes that several sources say he’s “conflicted” about the idea, though “others say he’s leaning toward a challenge.” One unnamed ally also said that Perdue was factoring in Kemp’s strength against 2018 Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams in their widely-expected rematch, with Bluestein relaying that “Perdue would only run if he felt Kemp was so politically damaged that he couldn’t defeat Abrams in November.”
Until August, there was no serious talk of Perdue, who lost re-election to Democrat Jon Ossoff in the January runoff, going up against Kemp. While the governor infuriated Trump last year when he refused to go along with his plan to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the state, Perdue stuck by him in June when he introduced Kemp at June's party convention; the AJC also reported that Perdue privately told the incumbent earlier this year that he'd be supporting his re-election.
Things began to change two months ago, though, when Trump’s Save America PAC unsubtly released a Fabrizio Lee poll arguing that, with Trump's support, the former senator would be favored to defeat Kemp. The idea initially still seemed unlikely: The conservative Washington Examiner published a story days later saying that, while Perdue’s fellow Republicans believed he could run for the Senate if NFL player Herschel Walker “implode[d],” they doubted he’d go up against Kemp. Around that time his cousin, former Gov. Sonny Perdue, also backed the governor.
The ex-senator, however, never took the chance to publicly dismiss any talk of a gubernatorial run. Trump himself was hardly dissuaded either, and he used a late September rally to single Perdue out in the crowd and ask, “Are you running for governor, David? Did I hear he’s running?” And while Perdue showed no public indication he was really thinking about it, Bluestein now writes that he’s spent “recent weeks” talking to his allies about a potential campaign against Kemp.