The 2022 midterms are likely more pivotal than a glut of the midterm elections that have come before them, and for a multitude of reasons.
First and foremost, they will almost certainly decide the fate of Congress, whose Democratic majority simply hasn’t been able to get much of anything done on account of their incessant infighting.
But perhaps more intriguingly, they are giving us a chance to see what sort of influence our top-level politicians have over these smaller races. This is particularly interesting as we take a look at former President Donald Trump’s sway over the GOP with a decision about 2024 looming just over the horizon.
In Georgia, this influence is being tested in a major way, and by none other than his own former Vice President.
Gov. Brian Kemp is leading former Sen. David Perdue by 32 points less than a week away from Georgia’s highly anticipated Republican gubernatorial primary, according to a Fox News poll published Wednesday.
Sixty percent of Georgia Republican primary voters prefer Kemp, compared with 28 percent who say they support Perdue. It’s a notable shift from March, when 50 percent of voters said they preferred Kemp, while 39 percent selected Perdue as their favorite.
Here is where it gets interesting:
The May 24 primary between Perdue and Kemp has seen heavy involvement from former President Donald Trump, who has made the governor one of his top midterm targets, along with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, for refusing to intervene and overturn the state’s election results in 2020, when President Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia.
And former Vice President Mike Pence, who has also been the subject of Trump’s 2020 wrath, threw his support into the race last week, announcing he will hold a rally with Kemp on primary eve — his most notable act of defiance against his former boss to date.
Trump, meanwhile, has campaigned for Perdue and thrown money into the race. His political action committee and other Trump-aligned groups have boosted the campaign and funded TV advertisements hammering Kemp. But despite the weight of Trump’s intervention, top Republicans believe Kemp can secure more than 50 percent of the vote needed to avoid a June run-off race against his rival.
Trump has already notched a number of notable endorsement wins, and a come from behind vicarious victory in Georgia would be a serious feather in his cap.
