GA-Sen-B: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp tapped wealthy businesswoman Kelly Loeffler for Sen. Johnny Isakson's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat at a press conference Wednesday, potentially igniting a war with Donald Trump and movement conservatives.
Trump had relentlessly pushed Kemp to tap Rep. Doug Collins, who, from his perch as the top-ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, has been a vocal Trump defender on impeachment. Conservative leaders, meanwhile, have attacked Loeffler as insufficiently pure, citing her donations to Democratic candidates who've supported abortion rights as well as the fact that the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA team she co-owns, publicly opposed a so-called "religious liberty" bill that would have permitted discrimination against LGBTQ people.
To combat these attacks, Loeffler declared her fealty to Trump at Wednesday's event, calling herself "pro-Second Amendment, pro-military, pro-wall, and pro-Trump" and pledging to "proudly support President Trump's conservative judges." That obeisance could hurt her in a general election, though, while doing little to assuage her right-wing critics.
Collins, in fact, had previously said he would "strongly" consider a Senate bid even if Kemp passed him over, and after the governor's announcement, he didn't rule out the possibility. "I appreciate the support I have received from the president and many others,” Collins said in a statement, and right now, my primary focus is defending our president against partisan impeachment attacks."
Loeffler's campaign sought to pre-empt an intra-party battle in a blunter way as well: An unnamed "person with direct knowledge" says that Loeffler intends to spend $20 million of her personal fortune on her own campaign, a monster sum that could deter Collins or anyone else from seeking to take her on. (Mitch McConnell of course also said the NRSC, which protects all incumbents, would back Loeffler.)
If Collins or another disaffected Republican does get in, though, that would almost certainly crush GOP hopes of winning outright in November. That's because all candidates from all parties will run together on a single ballot, and if no one takes a majority, a runoff between the top two vote-getters (regardless of party) would be held in January of 2021. The Democratic field, meanwhile, is still taking shape. So far, the only entrant is businessman Matt Lieberman, the son of former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, but a number of other potential contenders are considering the race.