ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has defeated his Donald Trump-backed challenger David Perdue after a furious push by the former president to punish Kemp for not overturning the 2020 election results.
Kemp’s victory Tuesday sets up another general election race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, who was unopposed in her primary.
The November rematch of their 2018 contest is likely to be one of the nation’s most expensive and closely watched.
Perdue was courted by Trump to enter the race as retribution for Kemp not going along with the former president’s effort to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 election.
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Incumbent Brian Kemp is facing Republican opposition in the race for Georgia's governor.
Kemp campaigned at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, where planned to watch the results roll in with his supporters.
The governor seems confident going into the night, and the polling is backing that by showing a large win for Kemp.
The latest polling conducted by 13WMAZ's sister station 11Alive from late April shows Kemp has a large 25-point lead ahead of former U.S. Senator David Perdue. 56 percent of those polled said they would vote for Kemp, and 31 said Perdue. Other Republicans were polling single digits. The high possibility of Kemp winning the Republican nomination Tuesday night is really the consensus across the board for other major polls by various Atlanta news outlets.
The governor says he's running on his record the last four years. He says his campaign and family has put in the work. Now, he's prepping for a rematch against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
"That's why we're on a fight for the soul of our state. That's why this family has been getting up every single day to make sure Stacey Abrams is not going to be our governor or the next president," Kemp said.
Governor Kemp's top challenger in the primary, David Perdue is holding his watch party at the Sheraton Suites Galleria in Atlanta.
On the last day of early voting, the governor hopeful made several stops around the state to rally in hopes of beating Kemp. Ine of those stops was in Bibb County. While there, Perdue was asked what he'd like to tell voters in the 11th hour.
"There's a battle between state control and individual liberty. If you believe like I do in conservative values, it all comes down to this governor's race. We will not be able to stop the Biden madness if we lose this race to Stacey Abrams. I believe that our governor has divided our party. If he was really going to be able to bring us together again, why wouldn't he have done it already?" Perdue said.
Whichever Republican candidate wins Tuesday night faces Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in November.