The battle to keep the Senate majority in Republican hands faces complications from a primary fight in Georgia between newly appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler and a favorite of President Trump, Rep. Doug Collins. The House lawmaker has been one of the staunchest opponents of the Democratic impeachment case.
The fight threatens to split the state’s Republican voters and may risk the GOP’s long hold on the seat, some party officials fear.
It’s been more than 30 years since Georgia voters elected a Democrat to fill the seat for a full term, but the electorate is shifting in critical suburban districts. Collins’s entry in the race could foil the party’s plan to win over those voters, in part with a strong female Senate candidate.
“The shortsightedness in this decision is stunning,” said Kevin McLaughlin, National Republican Senatorial Committee’s executive director, in a harshly worded statement released after Collins announced his candidacy.
McLaughlin is worried an intraparty battle for the seat could split voters and risk the party’s effort to win over vital suburban districts that are now divided more evenly between the two parties.
A GOP battle could give Democrats a critical upper hand in the suburbs, which could end up hurting Trump, Sen. David Perdue, and other candidates on the ballot in November.
“All he has done is put two senate seats, multiple house seats, and Georgia’s 16 electoral votes in play,” McLaughlin said.
The battle for the Senate seat began last year after Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson announced his decision to retire for health reasons.
While several Georgians hoped to be appointed to fill the vacancy, especially Collins, Gov. Brian Kemp selected Loeffler, a successful businesswoman and GOP donor.
His decision reflected the GOP’s desire to win back the waning support of suburban female voters, whose drift to the Democratic Party has been a growing phenomenon in Georgia and other states over the past decade.
The House lost dozens of GOP seats in suburban districts in 2018, noted former GOP Rep. Jack Kingston, who represented Georgia’s 1st District from 1993 until 2015.
“Ms. Loeffler does bring a dimension to the table that we need,” Kingston told the Washington Examiner. “That area where we did not do well in 2018, we will do well now. She will help fill that gap and address that need.”
But Collins had the backing of Trump, who wanted the governor to choose his staunch House ally.
Collins is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and has been serving on the president’s defense team during the Senate trial. He’s a regular on television talk shows, passionately defending the president and attacking the Democratic effort to remove him from office.
Collins announced his intent to challenge Loeffler last week on the Fox News morning program.
“We just need to have a process that lets people decide,” Collins said. “I think we’ve fought for the president, we’ve fought for our state, and we’ve fought for this country, and we’re going to continue to do that. And I look forward to a good exchange of ideas and look forward to this election.”
Although Trump wanted Collins appointed to the seat, he hasn’t publicly commented on Collins’s decision to challenge Loeffler in a primary.
Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican who chairs the Senate GOP’s fundraising arm, said he would back Loeffler.
“She is a strong conservative who will represent the state of Georgia well, and we are fully committed to her success.”
Young said Republicans were “certainly watching closely” the evolving primary battle, but he does not think Democrats will win control in November.
“We’ll hold the seat,” he said.
