FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia is less than a month before the May primary elections and Republicans have to decide who they’ll nominate to run against U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff.
Multiple candidates are vying for the seat, still.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot was in Forsyth County where a candidate kicked off their north metro Atlanta tour alongside a familiar face.
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Gov. Brian Kemp joined candidate Derek Dooley, the former football coach, to campaign for the nomination.
Dooley spoke to voters in a restaurant, with his biggest supporters with him: the governor, and First Lady Marty Kemp.
While other Republican candidates might be able to win the primary instead of Dooley, he told Channel 2 Action News that voters should pick the candidate who will win a general election.
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“We have a very diverse state,” Dooley said. “We’ve got to have leadership that can connect with not just Republican Trump voters, we’ve got to energize them and mobilize them, but we also need a broader tent.”
As Dooley campaigned, GOP Primary rival U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter released a new attack ad, focused not on Dooley, but another Georgia congressman, Rep. Mike Collins.
Meanwhile, Ossoff has recently been campaigning in Augusta to promote efforts to have a more unified country.
“The United States was still destined for greatness. Only united will we meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of our time,” Ossoff said on the campaign trail.
Kemp pointed out in Forsyth County that Republicans have lost 10 years of U.S. Senate elections, the most recent being when Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated GOP nominee Herschel Walker, the former pro-football player.
After his defeat to be elected to U.S. Senate, Walker was named U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas by President Donald Trump, the first since 2011.
Kemp said if Republicans are going to win Ossoff’s seat in the U.S. Senate, they need to nominate a candidate who appeals across the aisle to voters.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re supporting him,” Kemp said about Dooley. “I feel very strongly we need a political outsider as our best chance to beat Ossoff.”
In addition to Carter and Collins, Republicans Jonathan McColumn and John Coyne are running to win the primary and challenge Ossoff in November.
The primary election in Georgia is on May 18, but early voting in the state begins April 27.
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