A few balmy hours on the Georgia campaign trail underscored the magnitude of the Republican rift in the race for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat. This week will ratchet up the tension between her and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins even more.
As dawn broke Monday, Collins’ campaign highlighted Instagram video it surfaced of Loeffler embracing Democrat Stacey Abrams on mid-court of an Atlanta Dream game weeks before she faced Kemp. It’s a clip that Collins’ campaign will relentlessly push through the November special election.
In the video, an announcer is heard introducing Abrams as the Democratic nominee for governor and a “civil rights champion with a proven track record of fighting for public education, voting rights and Medicaid expansion.” A pro-Abrams sign passes in front of the camera during the clip.
Abrams’ image has long been weaponized in the race. A snapshot of the midcourt meeting between Abrams and Loeffler emerged even before she was appointed to the Senate, while Loeffler’s campaign has frequently invoked Collins’ warm relationship with the Democrat.
But Collins’ campaign is pushing the video as visual evidence that Loeffler is “caught in a bold-faced lie” over her political support for Abrams. And it points to a quote in The Washington Post from a former Dream chief executive who said Loeffler’s conservative rhetoric is “not the Kelly we know.”
“Any sports fan knows the truth comes out when you go to the tape,” said Dan McLagan, a Collins spokesman. “No wonder she hugged Abrams at center-court during one of her WNBA team’s games. It was Kelly who gave the order for Stacey to be there.”
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Loeffler’s aides countered by invoking Collins’ record in the state Legislature, where he served with Abrams.
“The worst kept secret in Georgia politics is that Doug Collins and Stacey Abrams have been best friends for over a decade,” said Loeffler spokesman Stephen Lawson. “No photo or video can erase the fact that Doug Collins voted with his ‘good friend’ Stacey Abrams over 300 times to raise taxes, undermine the 2nd Amendment, and put violent criminals back on the streets.”
It’s the latest in a series of developments in the nationally-watched race.
Fresh off a head-turning speech at the Republican National Convention, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott headlined a fundraiser for Loeffler early Friday. Then came a rally for Loeffler in Cobb County that featured Attorney General Chris Carr and other allies.
“I don’t owe anyone in the swamp anything,” Loeffler told the crowd, echoing President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech a night earlier. “I can’t be bought. I only owe Georgians – everything.”
A few hours later, more than 100 people crammed into a restaurant on Gainesville’s Square to cheer on native son Collins and his slate of supporters, a group that included ex-U.S. Rep. Karen Handel, GOP attorney Sidney Powell and former First Lady Sandra Deal.
“I would not put anyone else down. But I want to build our man up,” said Sandra Deal, adding that she was prompted to endorse Collins because “when someone is painted as something they’re not, we need to paint with the bigger stroke.”
Among the faces in the crowd was former Gov. Nathan Deal, who was sporting a dark-blue “Collins for Senate” but was not ready to formally endorse him. Consider it only a matter of time until he does.
On Monday, Collins picked up another backer. Andrew Clyde, the GOP nominee to succeed Collins in the northeast Georgia district, said the four-term congressman has “stood up to the radical left time and time again.”
Messy race
With some recent public poll numbers showing Loeffler with a narrow lead in the November special election – a free-for-all that features 21 candidates on the same ballot - the internal divisions will only sharpen.
Loeffler plans a sweep of events across the state this week that feature more of her institutional support from Gov. Brian Kemp’s circle. Campaign stops will feature Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Insurance Commissioner John King and an appearance by Kemp.
Unable to match Loeffler’s ad onslaught, Collins has raced to frame himself as the authentic conservative -- which is why his campaign plans to heavily promote the Abrams’ clip.
They aim to frame the video of Abrams, reviled among many Republicans, as evidence that Loeffler isn’t the hard-right politician she’s portrayed herself as since she was appointed to the office by Kemp in December.
The Republican-on-Republican feud has given the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is backed by Georgia’s Democratic establishment, some breathing room. But he’s so far failed to exploit the GOP divisions.
Polls show him in a tight race with fellow Democrat Matt Lieberman for a spot in a likely January runoff, though Warnock recently launched a volley of ads over the last two weeks that could help elevate his standing.
Warnock has only attracted scattered attention from both Republicans, though each took aim at him over the weekend.
Collins mocked the Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor for contending Georgia is “ground zero for voter suppression” and Loeffler criticized his recent remarks about abortion rights.
“I believe that healthcare is a human right,” Warnock said in an interview with WGAU. “And I believe that it is something that the richest nation in the world provides for its citizens, and for me reproductive justice is consistent with my commitment to that.
Loeffler’s campaign asserted Monday that Warnock is “using his position as a minister to justify killing innocent babies. That’s not only abhorrent. It’s immoral.”
As for Warnock, he aired an attention-grabbing video over the weekend that highlighted the difference between his contest and the race against U.S. Sen. David Perdue - while taking a few swipes at the Republican agenda.
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