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Perdue said in a statement that his decision “is a personal one, not a political one,” and he made the call “after much prayer and reflection.”
“I am confident whoever wins the Republican primary next year will defeat the Democrat candidate in the general election for this seat, and I will do everything I can to make that happen,” Perdue said.
Perdue’s announcement kick-starts what may be a crowded Republican primary, whose winner will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael G. Warnock. The early maneuverings in one of the country’s newest swing states could foreshadow a fraught struggle between Republican candidates allied with Trump and those who would like to see the party move beyond the former president’s divisive rhetoric.
Perdue, a 71-year-old former CEO, competed in a tight race against Jon Ossoff in 2020, losing to Ossoff in one of the state’s two closely watched Senate runoffs on Jan. 5. Warnock won the other; his term expires in January 2023.
Now, with a wide-open field and Republicans desperate to win back one of the state’s Senate seats — and control of the chamber — Georgia Republicans are seeking a candidate who can be competitive in the primary and general election.
Party strategists considered Perdue a formidable candidate and perhaps the favorite to win the upcoming primary, with the name recognition and fundraising boost that comes from participating in the most expensive congressional election ever.
But Perdue had sent mixed signals about whether he was interested in reentering the fray. Last week, he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, the first act in launching a campaign. He said then he wanted to “continue to keep all options open.”
He also took a step that has become key for Republicans seeking national office: a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago. He traveled to Trump’s private club last week and met with the former president for dinner and golf, said one person briefed on their get-together, who, like others in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
The two men get along well, but Perdue was reportedly disturbed by Trump’s lack of focus on helping Republicans in 2022 and by his desire to exact revenge on party members he deemed insufficiently loyal, a person with knowledge of Perdue’s thinking said. Perdue feared Trump would create a difficult climate, the person said.
During his Senate campaign and his time in the chamber, Perdue was an ardent booster…
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