(JustPatriots.com)- After former Georgia Senator David Purdue announced his primary challenge to Governor Brian Kemp, a poll released by Fox 5 in Atlanta showed 41 percent of Republican voters supported Kemp while 22 percent supported Purdue.
When respondents were asked if a potential Trump endorsement of Purdue would change whom they supported, Kemp’s support in the poll dropped to 34 percent, while Purdue’s rose to 34 percent.
According to Matt Towery, the chairman of the polling outfit InsiderAdvantage that conducted the survey, the swing in support shows the impact an endorsement from Donald Trump could have on a primary challenger. Towery said he had never before seen that kind of swing from any other individual endorsement. Even an endorsement by former President Obama didn’t swing the results this much, Towery explained.
Governor Kemp fell out of favor with former President Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election, with Trump accusing Kemp of “caving” to Stacey Abrams and opening the door to voter fraud in Georgia.
After Purdue formally announced, Trump released a statement endorsing Purdue. In his statement, Trump asserted that Governor Kemp would not be able to defeat Stacey Abrams and accused Kemp of caving to Abrams before the 2020 election. Trump then blamed Kemp for the Republicans losing in January’s Senate run-off and he accused Kemp of costing him Georgia in the 2020 race. Trump reiterated that his supporters in Georgia would never vote for Brian Kemp.
Cody Hall, Governor Kemp’s spokesman dismissed Purdue’s entry into the race, claiming he is only running to “soothe his bruised ego” after losing his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff. Hall placed the blame for the Democrats taking over the Senate on Purdue, adding that now Purdue wants to hand the governor’s office to Stacey Abrams.
As recently as June, Purdue backed Governor Kemp, even introducing the governor at the state Republican Party convention. In response to Purdue’s flip-flop, Kemp said that he has no control over whether Purdue would be “a man of his word.”
When Stacey Abrams first announced that she was running, Governor Kemp had hoped her entry into the race would fire up Republican voters and rally them to his side. Unfortunately for Kemp, President Trump released a statement after Abrams’ announcement saying that his supporters would never vote for Kemp.
