Georgians, especially Republicans, are barely catching their breath from the tumultuous 2020 and January 5th elections— yet political maneuvering for 2022 has already begun.
First, in the aftermath of the defeat of Republican U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Republicans are wondering who will take on Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock who is up for re-election in 2022. InsiderAdvantage is told by informed sources that Perdue and Loeffler are trying to decide if one of them should attempt another run at trying to win the seat. (But it is generally agreed that they would not run against each other.)
Second, there are indications that University of Georgia football legend and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker, a proud Georgia native, may be returning home with an eye toward running as a Republican (backed strongly by his friend former President Donald Trump) against Warnock. He reportedly intends to buy a home in the Atlanta area.
Trump will be deeply involved in 2022 Georgia GOP primary politics. He wants Gov. Brian Kemp defeated, feeling that he was betrayed by the governor last year. Would Trump back former Rep. Doug Collins (who hasn’t decided anything yet) against Kemp? Or could another Trumper such as state Sen. Burt Jones, R–Jackson, emerge to take on Kemp in the primary?
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has taken some surprisingly and stridently anti-Trump positions of late. Could state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, be mulling a race for lieutenant governor, or perhaps looking at a congressional run (in a constituted suburban 6th Congressional District after reapportionment) or simply staying put in his Senate seat which he won convincingly last year? In any event, Trump and his Georgia allies will be looking to recruit a candidate against Duncan.
But it is Secretary of State of State Brad Raffensperger who is particularly in hot water with the GOP base. He is condemned by the Trump camp for approving a legal settlement last March that weakened the signature verification requirements for mail-in absentee ballots, as well as for battling Trump regarding efforts to expose and crack down on vote fraud. Several Republicans are thinking about knocking Raffensperger out in a primary, including former state Sen. Josh McKoon and former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle.
Attorney General Chris Carr could also be vulnerable if he runs in two years. He is perceived by a growing number within the conservative GOP voter base as insufficiently conservative. And Carr has taken unwise and needless jabs against Trump of late.
Another measure of the former president’s popularity with his party in Georgia will be whether staunchly pro-Trump state GOP Chairman David Shafer will be re-elected at the party’s state convention in June. Cobb County GOP Chairman Jason Shepherd and Cobb Republican Scott Johnson (defeated by Shafer the last go-around) are poised to run against the incumbent for the party’s top spot.
