CANTON, Ga. — Gov. Brian Kemp toured metro Atlanta to stump for his preferred candidate in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race, former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.
Dooley entered the race in August with Kemp’s backing after Kemp declined to throw his hat in the ring to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Dooley’s in a three-way race with two Republican congressmen, Buddy Carter and Mike Collins.
Republicans in Georgia will select their nominee in the May 19 primary election. Early voting begins April 27.
During a stop Monday in the dimly-lit dining room of Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q in Canton, Kemp made the case for picking Dooley over the sitting congressmen, citing recent Republican wins like Sens. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Tim Sheehy of Montana, all of whom Kemp described as political outsiders before taking office.
“It takes an outsider that doesn’t have to worry about defending their political record or other things, to stay on offense, to tell people the real story about these guys and the real story about Jon Ossoff,” Kemp said. “That’s what I think Derek Dooley can do.