Crowded Field Promises the Messy Primary GOP Wanted to Avoid As “Big-name Republicans are Skipping” Georgia Senate Race

As “big-name Republicans are skipping” the Georgia Senate race, another GOP candidate added his name to a growing field that promises the type of divisive, messy, and expensive primary Republicans hoped to avoid. 

Here’s what you need to know about the GOP’s growing headache:

• “Everything seems up in the air now.” After “big-name Republicans” passed on running, a slew of lesser-known GOP politicians have decided to run or are floating potential campaigns. As Gary Black enters the race, the lack of a clear frontrunner or well-known candidate has created “a lot of uncertainty” for Republicans.  

• The GOP field could get even bigger – promising the messy, expensive primary they hoped to avoid. Speaker David Ralston began floating his own name after a visit with Mitch McConnell. Rep. Buddy Carter is interested in a run, something a Savannah Morning News columnist wrote is “sure to end in failure.” And failed politician Kelly Loeffler is rumored to want a rematch for the seat she was never elected to and lost last January. 

• Herschel Walker, Trump’s preferred candidate, still looms over the primary field – a worrisome prospect for party leaders. Having watched the former president and the Georgia GOP lose three highly consequential elections in November and January, Republicans in Georgia and Washington “privately worry” that they could be setting themselves up for failure if Walker gets in. 

• The Georgia Republican Party – dubbed “a mess” by its own supporters and still hung up on 2020 – is doing little to help the situation. 

“Georgia’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is shaping up to be a crowded race full of candidates who are completely out of touch with the challenges Georgians are facing,” said Dan Gottlieb, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Every candidate will spend this messy GOP free-for-all ignoring the needs of Georgia families, schools, and small businesses – and proving why they can’t be trusted to represent Georgians in the Senate.”  

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