The National Republican Senatorial Committee is reaffirming support for Kelly Loeffler as the appointed Georgia senator sustains fire on the Left and the Right for stock sales that critics charge were timed to avoid heavy losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The NRSC is backing Loeffler over Republican Rep. Doug Collins. The congressman is challenging Loeffler in a special election to select a permanent successor to Republican Johnny Isakson, who resigned from the Senate on Dec. 31 for health reasons. Some Republican insiders are questioning Loeffler’s viability against Collins amid controversial financial transactions that the senator says she had no control over. The Senate GOP campaign arm is not wavering.
“The NRSC supports Sen. Loeffler 100%,” Kevin McLaughlin, NRSC executive director, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana is chairman of the NRSC. But most major decisions are made in concert with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. President Trump has previously expressed support for Loeffler.
Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman married to Jeff Sprecher, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, was appointed to the Senate by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Like Senate Republican leaders in Washington, Kemp viewed Loeffler as preferable to Collins because he believed she was better positioned to reverse the fading support for GOP candidates in the Atlanta suburbs — especially among women.
Loeffler also was the more attractive choice because she is willing to use her deep pockets to finance what could be an expensive campaign. The special election is scheduled for the same day as the November general election, with the top two finishers proceeding to a runoff if the winner falls short of 50% of the vote. Party establishment support for Loeffler did not scare off Collins.
Supporters of the congressman are touting an internal Collins campaign tracking poll from March 24 showing the challenger expanding his lead over the incumbent, moving from a 29.1% to 20.4% lead on March 7, to a 34.1% to 13.6% advantage 2 1/2 weeks later. The tracking survey measured support for Collins, Loeffler, and Democratic candidates Matt Lieberman, 18.4%, Raphael Warnock, 13.3%, and Ed Tarver, 5.4%.
The Collins campaign thinks the NRSC is not as keen on Loeffler as it may seem to be. “They may have to say they’re still with her. But I bet, looking at the poll numbers and the situation she finds herself in — I bet they wish they could get that gum off their shoe,” Collins campaign spokesman Dan McLagan said. “She’s not a terribly compelling candidate.”
The NRSC and other Loeffler backers are accusing Collins supporters (and Democrats) of manipulating the information surrounding the senator’s sales of stock in public companies to make it appear as though she was trying to profit off of the coronavirus pandemic. Unfair news stories about the transactions also are to blame, McLaughlin argued.
“Liberal journalistic malpractice will not change that, and there is a special place in political hell for any so-called Republican who perpetuates liberal lies against another Republican during a national crisis in a Hail Mary attempt for political gain,” he said.
In explaining what critics have described as a form of insider trading, Loeffler said that neither she nor her husband directly controls the financial decisions made for their investment portfolio. Her campaign said she was not notified of any of the transactions until two weeks after they took place. On Wednesday, Loeffler revealed another round of stock sales to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in advance of their required public disclosure.
“Sen. Loeffler came to Washington on a promise to be a different kind of elected official,” Loeffler spokeswoman Kerry Rom said. “She holds herself to high standards of ethics and transparency, including acting in accordance with both the letter and spirit of the law, which she has done at every step of her time in the Senate and in her lengthy career in financial services.”
Madison Dibble contributed to this report.
