President Donald Trump’s endorsement seems to be powerful in Georgia. Brian Kemp overcame a deficit to with the Republican nomination for governor.
In the May primary, Kemp was beaten by Casey Cagle with a 10 point margin. That is a sizable win, but not enough to be kept out of the runoff.
And now, thanks to last week’s Twitter endorsement from Trump and support from Vice President Mike Pence, Kemp charged to victory with 69 percent of the vote.
Both Cagle and Kemp are pro-Trump Republicans, so the race came down to the one who positioned themselves more closely with Trump’s hardcore base.
Cagle said in a recording leaked by Kemp’s campaign, the election was about “who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck and who could be the craziest.”
That turned out to be Kemp, a self-confessed “politically incorrect conservative.”
As Georgia’s secretary of state, he claimed in a campaign ad that he was willing to use his own pickup truck to “round up criminal illegals” describing it as “an immigration bus.” He had previously run a campaign ad in which the lawmaker pointed a shotgun at a teenage boy who wanted to date his daughter.
Liberals in the media are losing their minds off a fake controversy. The real problem they have is that I’m an unapologetic conservative & proud defender of the 2nd Amendment. I won’t back down, cave in, or compromise my values. https://t.co/da2uACcq2w #gapol #gagop #tcot #maga
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) May 2, 2018
With that ad, he made the following post: “Liberals in the media are losing their minds off a fake controversy. The real problem they have is that I’m an unapologetic conservative & proud defender of the 2nd Amendment. I won’t back down, cave in, or compromise my values.”
Trump announced his decision to endorse Kemp on Twitter: “Brian Kemp is running for Governor of the great state of Georgia. The Primary is on Tuesday. Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment. I give him my full and total endorsement.”
Brian Kemp is running for Governor of the great state of Georgia. The Primary is on Tuesday. Brian is tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration. He loves our Military and our Vets and protects our Second Amendment. I give him my full and total endorsement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018
Charles Payne expressed his surprise at the power of Trump’s endorsement: “Wow, the power of Trump strikes in Georgia GOP runoff – Cagle had a 13 point lead in polls and Kemp won…amazing. So much for polls!”
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