After Ralston Breaks Ranks, Georgia GOP in “Dueling Factions” in Senate Feud

Loeffler’s “embarrassing” response to Ralston endorsement costs her support as Collins struggles to keep up under wave of negative attacks

ATLANTA — After House Speaker David Ralston kicked off another round of messy GOP infighting last week by endorsing top Trump ally Congressman Doug Collins over unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler, today Georgia Republicans continued to fracture between each candidate at a time when they can least afford it.

Both GOP contenders rolled out their own dueling slates of endorsements today, but Loeffler suffered the further humiliation of losing supporters to Collins after her “embarrassing” response to Ralston’s endorsement potentially spurred several GOP figures to switch sides in the party’s brutal internecine battle.

Meanwhile, as Collins’ campaign slammed Loeffler’s team as “vile and unpleasant,” the incumbent senator is continuing her scorched earth tactics as she dumps millions on Georgia’s airwaves slamming Collins and attempting to buy her Senate seat once again. And with each side escalating their toxic and bitter feud, both Collins and Loeffler are trailing Democrats in head-to-head match-ups as political experts have responded by moving the race away from the GOP.

“This divisive infighting is everything Republicans wanted to avoid ahead of November, but it’s what each of their weak candidates are stuck with in the final months of the general election,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “With Senator Kelly Loeffler ’embarrassing’ members of her own party and Congressman Doug Collins buried under a mountain of negative ad spending, it’s become clear that Democrats are the only winner in this disastrous feud for the GOP.”

Read more about the Republicans’ ongoing divisive intraparty battle:

AJC: After Ralston endorsement, dozens of lawmakers back Collins

• House Speaker David Ralston’s endorsement of Senate candidate Doug Collins cleared the way for a group of other state legislators to back his campaign – including a few who initially supported his rival.

• The four-term congressman on Tuesday rolled out a slate of 45 supporters from the General Assembly in a bid to undercut U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s claim that she’s the favorite of Georgia conservatives.

• One lawmaker linked his decision to the Loeffler campaign’s heated reaction to Ralston’s endorsement.

• “While I support Doug on his merits, I’ve typically remained neutral when it comes to intraparty races or endorsements,” said state Rep. Jason Ridley, R-Chatsworth. “However, the Loeffler campaign’s attempt to discredit Speaker Ralston – and by extension all House Republicans – is embarrassing.”

• He added: “I’m ashamed that Loeffler’s campaign was scared enough by his endorsement to stoop to these tactics.”

• Already, the contest has divided the Georgia GOP into dueling factions, with Gov. Brian Kemp and other Loeffler supporters on one side, and allies of Collins on another.

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