U.S. Senate Polling And Governor Kemp’s Big Gambles

The race for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat, currently held by Kelly Loeffler, continues to shape up as an intriguing contest.

Loeffler was appointed to the position by Governor Brian Kemp after long-time politician Johnny Isakson stepped down due to health reasons. Even before Kemp made his choice there was a split among some conservatives in Georgia as to who should be placed in the coveted position.

President Trump wanted Congressman Doug Collins to be appointed but Kemp went a different direction with Loeffler. It was a risky move and one that could backfire in terms of the Republicans losing the seat later this year.

While the vote for this race is still approximately six months away, indications are Loeffler is not going to remain in the position. Despite the pleas of some Republicans for him not to do so, Collins entered the race and has been leading in every poll released to this point.

In fact, all polling as of late April shows Collins with a comfortable lead.

In some ways that is not surprising. Since Loeffler was appointed to the position she has not been before Georgia voters on any ballot. In reality she has not been very effective in the role touting “accomplishments” of voting against impeachment of President Trump and fighting for conservative beliefs.

Any Republican could claim those “accomplishments.” Georgians expect more from a U.S. Senator, however.

News also broke that Loeffler, in addition to Georgia’s other Republican U.S. Senator David Perdue, benefited personally from insider information concerning the COVID-19 health crisis. Collins correctly pointed out in the days following that news that while many Georgians were losing their paychecks due to the health crisis that Loeffler was benefiting from secret information not available to Georgia citizens.

“People are losing their jobs, their businesses, their retirements, and even their lives and Kelly Loeffler is profiting off their pain? I’m sickened just thinking about it,” Collins tweeted after the news broke about his opponent.

Loeffler’s defense of “I don’t personally sell or buy my own stocks” didn’t hold water as no one with her amount of wealth personally buys and sells their own stocks.

With 20 candidates competing on the ballot in a “jungle primary,” there is no guarantee at this point in the race that Loeffler will even be in the runoff.

Democrat Matt Lieberman, son of former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, is polling well as is fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock, who has the backing of the state’s party establishment.

Voters should also not overlook former state senator Ed Tarver, another Democrat in the race.

Former Libertarian and now independent Allen Buckley, an attorney and accountant, is also working to make some noise in the November contest.

All told there are six Republicans, eight Democrats, four independents, one Libertarian and one Green Party candidate in the race. There is also a certified write-in candidate for a total of 21 choices.

While this race has been somewhat quiet in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 situation, a loss by Loeffler could prove embarrassing for Governor Kemp. If Loeffler fails to even make the runoff (a certainty with so many candidates running) then Kemp probably needs to begin worrying about his own re-election in 2022.

Kemp is probably not overly concerned about his race in late April as he normally would be. The governor has taken some criticism, from both Democrats and Republicans, for handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Even President Trump stated he was against Kemp’s decision to “re-open” Georgia in terms of businesses.

In addition, the mayors of two of the state’s largest cities said Kemp did not even make a phone call to them regarding his decision. Even if the governor’s mind was made up on what he was going to do it would have been smart to at least inform these mayors of his decision.

Let’s all hope the decision to re-open is the correct one. Certainly, businesses have to re-open again in order to survive. Some may not even survive in the end as you never make up lost revenue. “Lost revenue is lost revenue,” one Georgia business owner said.

Another Georgia politician who could very well be on the hot seat, if he isn’t already, is Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. While this is an unprecedented time, thousands of Georgians are still trying to get their unemployment benefits started weeks after being placed out of work.

Numerous citizens have reported being unable to speak with any Labor Department official. Offices have been closed and phone calls are not answered and phone and email messages are not being returned, reports have indicated.

It’s probably a good thing Kemp and Butler are not on the ballot this year.

Monticello native Chris Bridges has been a community newspaper journalist for three decades. You can email comments about this column to pchrisbridges@gmail.com.