U.S. Sen. David Perdue has long warned he was in for a tough re-election fight in November. A series of developments on Wednesday offer a pointed reminder just how tight the race is shaping up to be.
The day started with word that a group connected with Majority Forward, a super PAC boosting Senate Democratic candidates, will pour $5.2 million into TV ads in Georgia in August to boost Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign against Perdue.
The Republican incumbent, meanwhile, released his third TV ad of the cycle – and the second to take aim at Ossoff, who won his party’s crowded primary outright in June. Speaking direct to camera, Perdue opens by claiming “Ossoff is pushing a socialist agenda, promising free stuff.”
Perdue’s allies in the National Republican Senatorial Committee aren’t taking Ossoff lightly either. The group released a second ad Wednesday claiming the Democrat “cares more about impressing his Hollywood liberal friends than helping Georgia families.”
And Ossoff went on MSNBC hours later to trumpet a poll conducted for his campaign by Garin-Hart-Young Research that shows him deadlocked with Perdue. The poll pegs Ossoff at 45% and Perdue at 44% -- within the margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
“Because Ossoff currently has a name ID deficit with the incumbent, his lead is larger among Georgia voters who know both candidates,” reads the polling memo, “an encouraging sign Ossoff will increase his profile.”
Libertarian Shane Hazel is in the Nov. 3 contest, too. It’s separate from the special election for Georgia’s other U.S. Senate seat, which features newly-appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler and 20 challengers.
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