Ahead of Debate, Loeffler and Collins Continue “Messy Internecine Battle” That Is “Threatening Both Senate Seats”

Across the board, Loeffler and Collins remain in trouble with ratings changes, poor polling numbers, and GOP infighting undermining Republicans up and down the ballot

ATLANTA — As unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler and self-proclaimed top Trump ally Congressman Doug Collins are set to participate in today’s debate, a reminder that both Georgia Republicans are in a worse position than ever two weeks from Election Day.

Here are the key facts on the state of the race:

• After spending millions on ads slamming each other, both Loeffler and Collins are still combining for less than 50% of the vote while still trailing a Democrat in head-to-head match-ups, a key indicator that neither candidate is able to break through with the majority of Georgia voters as Democratic enthusiasm is rising.

• Loeffler and Collins’ approval numbers similarly show just how devastating their “brutal feud” has been, with both candidates scoring underwater favorability numbers with Georgia voters — and each underwater by double-digits with independent voters.

• Fundraising reports tell the same story, with Loeffler and Collins each trailing a Democrat — even with Loeffler loaning her campaign another $5 million as she desperately struggles to keep her campaign competitive.

• The attacks have turned increasingly nasty in the closing stretch. Collins is framing Loeffler as a “greedy insider” who “profited off the pandemic” because she’s “looking out for herself,” while Loeffler has aired a series of ads claiming she is “more conservative than Attila the Hun” and the Super PAC bankrolled by Loeffler’s husband accuses Collins of being “a career politician helping career criminals.”

• As she seeks support from further and further outside the mainstream, Loeffler spent the weekend bragging about her endorsement from “bigoted” conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, a situation that even Republicans admit is “devastating to her” in a potential runoff. Meanwhile, the Collins campaign also refused to distance themselves from an “appalling” figure and called it “a good endorsement.”

• As Loeffler and Collins fail to break through, political analysts are taking notice, with both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report moving the race towards Democrats in recent weeks, citing “the battle royale” between Loeffler and Collins that has “forced both candidates to run as far to the right as humanly possible.” Republicans are privately fretting that the “messy internecine battle” and the bitter party divisions it has caused are “now threatening both Senate seats.”

With so much going wrong for Republicans in the special election, it’s no wonder experts are now warning of “a potential seismic shift” toward the Democrats as Loeffler and Collins continue “a race to the right” in a situation “that’s not a recipe for winning a statewide race in a rapidly changing Georgia.”

“No matter how they try to spin it, it’s clear that the war between Senator Kelly Loeffler and Congressman Doug Collins has caused lasting damage and this is exactly the position Georgia Republicans did not want to be in just two weeks out from Election Day,” said Alex Floyd, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “While Republicans remain mired in their messy and expensive intraparty feud, Democrats are ready to keep talking about the issues that matter to Georgia families like rebuilding our economy and protecting our health care in this growing pandemic.”

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