Senator David Perdue (R-GA) speaks during a campaign event while running for re-election at the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub in Milton, Georgia, on December 21, 2020.
Al Drago | Reuters
Former Georgia Senator David Perdue said on Tuesday that he is considering a 2022 proposal to oust Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, making the announcement in a Twitter post that suggested the Republican businessman would try to turn the dispute into a referendum on President Joe Biden.
“Today, we can already see the imminent damage that America will suffer from the Biden government,” Perdue wrote, in a statement attributed to him and his wife, Bonnie Perdue.
“In the coming weeks, Bonnie and I will diligently consider our options on how to best serve the people of Georgia,” added the former lawmaker.
Perdue filed the paperwork for a 2022 offer on Monday. He said in his statement that doing so was “simply a necessary legal measure” that will allow him to keep the option available.
Perdue and former Republican senator. Kelly Loeffler, also from Georgia, was defeated last month in the runoff races that gave Democrats effective control of the top of Congress. Perdue lost to Senator Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., While Loeffler was defeated by Warnock.
Warnock, a pastor and Georgia’s first black senator, is serving the rest of the former senator’s term. Johnny Isakson, a Republican who resigned in 2019 for health reasons. As a result, Warnock will be re-elected again in 2022, rather than after the typical six-year term for senators.
Perdue’s candidacy for the Senate in 2020 was overshadowed by allegations of misconduct related to his prolific stock trading.
An investigation by the New York Times found that Perdue’s 2,596 businesses in his first term represented nearly a third of the senator businesses reported in the past six years, raising ethical questions. Perdue denied any wrongdoing. It is not illegal for senators to trade securities.
Perdue, in his statement on Tuesday, echoing a criticism he frequently made of the election campaign, said that Warnock and Ossoff are “two of the most radically liberal individuals who have ever occupied a seat on the sacred floor of the United States Senate”.
“They do not represent the majority of Georgians fairly,” added Perdue, citing his advantage over Ossoff in the November election, in which neither received more than 50% of the vote.
Perdue received 49.7% of the vote, against 47.9% for Ossoff, taking the race to the second round that Ossoff ended up winning. Ossoff defeated Perdue by a margin of 50.6% to 49.4%.
Perdue called the November general election “the best survey of where Georgia is now” and said “Georgia is not a blue state”.
“More than 52% of Georgians rejected my opponent and the liberal Democratic agenda,” wrote Perdue.
The former senator said it was essential for Republicans to regain a majority in the Senate “to have a balanced government”.
“Just as my second round determined the majority in the U.S. Senate, this race for the 2022 Senate in Georgia will also determine the majority and will be the focal race in America once again,” he said.
A spokesman for Warnock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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