ICYMI: Georgia Republicans In Murky Waters Amid Messy GOP Primary Clashes

After losing the presidency and both Senate seats, Georgia’s statewide Republican incumbents are more vulnerable than ever. But instead of receiving unified support from their base, Republican incumbents Governor Brian Kemp, Attorney General Chris Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have found themselves mired in messy primaries and MAGA-centric controversy while Trump continues to loom large over the Georgia GOP.

Here’s a recap of another messy week for Georgia’s statewide Republican incumbents:

Brian Kemp Keeps Getting Attacked by Trump’s Inner Circle

• Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani was “back in Georgia to knock out Brian Kemp” and headline a fundraiser for his primary opponent, whom “Trump goaded…to challenge Kemp.” Giuliani has been one of the most high-profile Republicans working to “unseat Gov. Brian Kemp.”
• Former Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski is “recruiting” candidates to “challenge Kemp” from the right, asserting that “Brian Kemp is not a king.”
• Trump himself even weighed in, suggesting at a rally “that maybe he shouldn’t have endorsed Kemp”. He said that if Kemp had lost in 2018, “We might have been better…We might have had a better governor.”
• Kemp is feeling the pressure to “constantly prove himself” to the GOP’s increasingly right-wing base while also trying to “fend off pro-Trump primary challengers.” 

Chris Carr Faces “Scrutiny” For His Role in Jan. 6 Riots

• At a campaign fundraiser, Carr “pointed out the scrutiny he is facing” in his election but conveniently neglected to say why. As the AJC notes, Carr “was chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association earlier this year when its fundraising arm paid for a robocall urging Republican activists to attend the pro-Trump January 6th rally in Washington and then to march on the Capitol to “stop the steal.” 
• Carr resigned as chairman in a hollow attempt to distance himself from the optics of supporting an insurrection, but his undeniable role in January 6 will surely haunt him as he “is facing a tough general election fight next November.”

Brad Raffensperger Attempts to Fend Off Challengers from the Right

• Raffensperger, facing a bevy of primary challengers from the right, penned an op-ed defending discriminatory anti-voting policies in an attempt to shore up support among Republicans’ increasingly right-wing base. 
• He also reminded that he did the bare minimum of his democratic duty in deciding not to overturn Georgia’s free and fair election results – a desperate attempt to have it both ways with voters. 

Meanwhile, “Georgia remains front-and-center for Trump,” Who Looms Large Over GOP

• The former president “made it clear that revenge in Georgia for his 2020 loss will be on his mind well into 2022,” with the state’s Republican incumbents among his top targets.
• Trump “hasn’t moved beyond his frustration with Kemp,” whom he blames for his 2020 defeat, and has already endorsed a challenger to Raffensperger — “another Republican Trump loves to hate.

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