Georgia Gov. Kemp and former Sen. Perdue clash over elections in debate

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and former Sen. David Perdue clashed heads over the results of the 2020 election during the state’s GOP governor’s debate on Sunday night, as each blamed each other for Democratic gains in the previous election cycle.

The event marked the first debate between Purdue, whose most notable supporter is former President Donald Trump, and Kemp, who Trump says betrayed him for refusing to help overturn his defeat in 2020.

There has still been no evidence brought to light to corroborate widespread voter fraud in any of the states in the 2020 election, but Perdue brought the subject back up, which has been a central theme of his campaign, several times through the hourlong debate and claimed that Kemp did not do enough to challenge the election results in the state.

Perdue was defeated by Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s Senate election, which was followed by Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock winning the special election for the state’s other Senate seat. Those Democratic victories gave the party a majority in the chamber.

Georgia became central to Republican efforts to alter the outcome of the election after those wins paired with President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the state. Trump has endorsed and fervently supported Perdue in an attempt to repay Kemp for not helping him overturn his 2020 defeat.

In response to Perdue’s arguments on Sunday, Kemp said that he had no authority to challenge the election results. “I was secretary of state for eight years, and I don’t need to be lectured by someone who lost his last election,” he said.

Kemp further defended himself as the best person to defeat Democrat Stacey Abrams in November, promising constituents that he will make sure she is “never your governor and your next president.”

He added, “There’s only one person who’s beaten Stacey Abrams and that’s me. The only reason I’m not in the United States Senate is because you caved in and gave the elections to Stacey and to the liberal Democrats in 2020.”