ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp defeated former U.S. Sen. David Perdue to score a GOP primary victory that showed the limits of Donald Trump’s endorsement in Georgia and set up a rematch against Democrat Stacey Abrams in November.
The first-term Republican easily fended off a challenge from Perdue, who entered the race with Trump’s blessing but struggled to win the former president’s ardent supporters despite a campaign message that centered on his falsehoods about election fraud.
The governor leveraged the powers of incumbency to thwart Perdue, who echoed Trump’s efforts to paint him as insufficiently conservative. Kemp signed legislation atop the GOP wish list that cut taxes, rolled back gun restrictions and brought culture wars to the classrooms.
