Jack KingstonATLANTA – For all the wrangling between the tea party and establishment conservatives in this midterm election year, key players from both sides are closing ranks behind one candidate in Georgia’s Republican Senate primary runoff.
Tea party favorite Karen Handel will announce Wednesday that she’s backing U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston over businessman David Perdue in a July 22 runoff, Kingston’s campaign confirmed to The Associated Press.
It comes the same day that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an establishment titan that spent almost $1 million supporting Kingston in the initial primary campaign, announced another statewide ad buy for Kingston. The spot features Georgia Bulldogs football hero and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker.
Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, finished third in a May 20 primary for one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Michelle Nunn in a Nov. 4 general election that will help determine which party controls the Senate for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s administration.
The GOP needs six more senators to claim a majority and cannot afford to lose the seat opened by the retirement of Saxby Chambliss.