Now the race really begins. Republicans have been afraid that the runoff would hurt their chances so they've already started going after Nunn:Former Dollar General CEO David Perdue won the GOP Senate runoff in Georgia on Tuesday and will take on Democrat Michelle Nunn in one of the most closely-watched races on the map this fall.Perdue led Kingston, 51 percent to 49 percent, when The Associated Press called the race with 93 percent of precincts reporting.
Kingston entered as the slight frontrunner, even though he finished second in the May primary, rallying the support of most elected officials in the state, including the third- and fourth-place finishers. Former Secretary of State Karen Handel and Rep. Phil Gingrey both campaigned with Kingston in the final weekend.
For much of last year, GOP leaders worried openly that ardent social conservative House members like Gingrey or Paul Broun would be the nominee. The fear was that either of them could make a Todd Akin-style gaffe that could cost the party another red state seat and make winning a majority that much harder. But both Kingston and Perdue were considered acceptable to the GOP establishment.
Still, the general election to replace GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss appears competitive. Nunn, the daughter of popular former Sen. Sam Nunn and a longtime nonprofit executive, led both Kingston and Perdue in two polls last week. She’s been one of the most impressive non-incumbent fundraisers nationally this cycle.
Georgia is changing demographically and has a significant African-American population that could make a difference if galvanized. Polls also show a close gubernatorial race between sitting Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and state Sen. Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
The Peach State runoff would have represented a much clearer demarcation of the establishment-versus-tea-party narrative if the race had pitted either Kingston or Perdue against Broun, Gingrey or Handel. Instead, the two-month-long fight has received minimal national notice and drawn comparatively little national money. - Politico, 7/22/14
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/...
Democrats have prepared for either Perdue or Kingston and they're working on getting a key constituency out to the polls:Republicans Jack Kingston and David Perdue have thrown millions of dollars’ worth of insults at each other. Kingston has accused Perdue of consorting with the French. Perdue, on slightly firmer ground, has accused Kingston of being a member of Congress.
In Washington, The Hill newspaper has found someone willing to offer a highly technical assessment of the situation:
They’ve been beating the crap out of each other,” said Georgia-based Republican strategist Chip Lake, who is neutral in the contest.
On the subscription side, one of our number outlines the high cost of the Republican runoff:
The impact of the nine-week slog can be measured in dollars: According to a breakdown of advertising spending obtained by the AJC, Kingston and allied political action committees — including the deep-pocketed U.S. Chamber of Commerce — spent at least $3.02 million on television ads during the runoff. Perdue and his allies spent at least $2.22 million on TV in the nine-week span.
That story also explored how Republicans never, ever want a repeat of the grueling nine-week runoff. We caught up with Senate candidate David Perdue last night to catch his thoughts.
“I hope this will be the last. It’s too much money. We need to get settled up and go get ready to fight the Democrats. I understand why they did it. But it’s a long nine weeks for both of us. It was an equal playing field so there was no advantage for either side, but that’s a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of energy that we could be spending running against the Democrats.”
Tom Perdue, who is the long-time adviser to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, has a notoriously frosty relationship with Gov. Nathan Deal, and is no relation to David Perdue, is turning some heads this morning with a quote in The Hill piece mentioned above. Tom Perdue advises the newspaper to keep a close eye on Jason Carter and Michelle Nunn, the Democratic candidates for governor and Senate, respectively:
“The Carter boy and the Nunn kid are the cleanest Democratic ticket the Democrats have had in a long time. Nunn is an outsider. She is a fresh face. She is a newcomer with a pedigree.”
More important, at least this week and next, is the fact that Nunn is rested and flush with cash, while the winner of tonight’s Republican primary runoff will be not only exhausted, but broke – in the Hillary Clinton sense of the word. After the May 20 Republican primary, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stepped in to give Kingston time to regroup and refuel. This time, another group has stepped forward. From Roll Call:
With the Georgia Republican Senate runoff ending Tuesday, an outside group focused on eradicating wasteful government spending launched a TV ad against Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn.
The group, Ending Spending Action Fund, spent more than $200,000 to produce and place the ad, according to an independent expenditure report filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission. It also spent more than $28,000 on opposition research. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/22/14
And Democrats are working on getting a head start for the real race:Democrats are likely to use Mr. Perdue’s business background, as well as his penchant for inartful comments, to liken him to Mr. Romney, who during his 2012 presidential bid earned a reputation for being an out-of-touch “vulture capitalist.”For example, Mr. Perdue was a chief executive for Pillowtex, a textile manufacturer that went bankrupt and ultimately closed in 2003, leaving 7,500 people unemployed, after Mr. Perdue had left the post.
Ms. Nunn, who faced little opposition in her own primary, has so far managed to emerge largely unscathed, using the luxury of the protracted Republican fight to raise money and build a volunteer network.
“The Nunn campaign has done a lot of work, so whoever wins will have to play catch-up,” Jennifer E. Duffy, senior editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said. “Now on the flip side, she’s going to have to start talking about issues and answering questions, but she starts the general off in pretty good shape.”
The Georgia Senate race, for the seat being vacated by Senator Saxby Chambliss, is also a place where the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s data-driven ground-game operation, known as the Bannock Street project, will be tested. African-Americans make up 30.1 percent of the state’s population, and Ms. Nunn will need to turn them out in November in order to win. Her challenge will be to appeal to moderate and independent voters, while also offering up enough energy and liberal rhetoric to excite her Democratic base enough to turn out.
Already, Democrats say that the project has eight field offices in Georgia and, working in conjunction with the Nunn campaign, has recruited 6,000 volunteers. - New York Times, 7/22/14
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/...
With the runoff over and Governor Nathan Deal (R. GA) hounded by his ethics scandal, we have a serious shot to turn Georgia blue. Lets give Nunn a head start by donating and getting involved with her campaign:Democrats are getting behind Michelle Nunn, even though we are hours away from knowing her Senate Republican rival.Justin Barasky, national press secretary for the Senate Democrats’ campaign committee, sent out a memo touting Nunn’s candidacy over those of GOP rivals David Perdue and Jack Kingston. Polls close at 7 p.m. ET in Georgia, which is holding runoffs in the Senate GOP race as well as two congressional seats.
“Michelle Nunn has spent her career building organizations that have empowered millions of people to improve their lives and their communities,” he said, “and this fall will beat whichever Republican emerges.”
Nunn, former CEO of the Points of Light volunteer organization, is either leading or tied with her GOP rivals, according to an average of recent polls compiled by RealClearPolitics. She’s been one of the strongest Democratic fundraisers this election cycle and is touted as one of two candidates who can take a GOP-held seat. (Sen. Saxby Chambliss is retiring.)
Her campaign announced it will hold a 24-hour “money bomb” on Wednesday to gear up for the fall campaign. - USA Today, 7/22/14
And while you're at it, how about donating and getting involved with State Senator Jason Carter's (D. GA) gubernatorial campaign:
