Georgians Get To Vote For Two U.S. Senators Next Year

Trump wants to collect on his quid pro quo in Georgia

Georgia is the only state where all 2020 voters will get to pick two U.S. senators. David Perdue's term is up and there is a special election to fill the other seat because Johnny Isakson is resigning from his seat two years early. The filing deadlines are March 6 so there is still time for more candidates to get in but so far there are 8 Democrats challenging Perdue but just one who has declared for the special election, Joe Lieberman's son Matt Lieberman. We'll get to the Republicans in a moment.

4 Democrats have raised money for the Perdue race. Perdue himself has raised $8,791,345 and is spending in a big way already. The 4 Democrats raising are:

• moderate Jon Ossoff- $1,343,249
• progressive Teresa Tomlinson- $928,408
• moderate Sarah Riggs Amico- $710,770 (of which $408,400 is self-financed)
• progressive Ted Terry- $88,113

Democrats not raising money include Elaine Whigham Williams, Akhenaten Amun, Marckeith DeJesus and Harold Shouse. There are also a couple of Republicans running against Perdue but none of raised any money and the challenges are not considered serious.

The other seat has a very different dynamic since Republican Governor Brian Kemp gets to name a successor to Isakson, who then runs as an incumbent. Cameron McWhirter and Lindsay Wise, Wall Street Journal reporters, wrote that arch Trumpist, Rep. Doug Collins, is doing everything he can to get appointed to the seat-- mostly making an idiot of himself in defending Trump as ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee. Trump appreciates anyone be-clowning themselves on his behalf, so he's been pressuring Kemp to appoint Collins. Kemp doesn't want to. "In recent days," wrote McWhirter and Wise, "the president has spoken to Mr. Kemp at least twice-- once face-to-face in Atlanta and once on the phone-- urging him to pick Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), a vocal supporter of the president in Congress… Mr. Collins, a white conservative from north Georgia, has pushed for months to get the seat that Sen. Johnny Isakson, 74 years old, is leaving at the end of the year because of health problems. But the governor is leaning toward appointing a female or minority candidate to improve the GOP’s chances in Atlanta’s burgeoning suburbs, key battlegrounds in the 2020 elections."

Georgia Republican insiders all think Kemp would prefer to appoint Kelly Loeffler, a multimillionaire financial executive who co-owns Atlanta’s WNBA franchise and has given generously to the campaigns of Georgia Republicans (and to Mitt Romney's SuperPAC, but not Trump's).

Melanie Zanon and James Arkin wrote for Politico that Trump sees Collins as "a potentially critical juror in any Senate impeachment trial soon after he helps lead the case for Trump in the House."

But even if Collins doesn’t get tapped for the Senate by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), he’s still considering launching a bid for the seat in a 2020 special election, citing his “resume supporting the president” and “being an advocate for Georgia.” And positioning himself as a top Trump defender could help bolster his campaign.

“I think people will see that I’m up here fighting for what I believe,” Collins said in an interview outside the House floor. “I’m fighting for them, and I’m fighting for an administration that I think has been treated unfairly.”

Collins, a former lawyer and pastor, has already emerged as a key Trump ally. And he’ll be the GOP’s point-man on impeachment when the Judiciary Committee takes the reins of the inquiry in the coming weeks and considers any articles of impeachment-- which could come right as Kemp announces an appointment for the Senate seat.

Trump phoned Kemp on Wednesday and pressed him to appoint Collins to the seat, according to a source familiar with the call. The conversation was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

TrumpWorld soon followed suit with a lobbying campaign in his favor.

Donald Trump Jr., who hosted a fundraiser for Collins in late October, tweeted that Collins is a "fighter and exactly the kind of person Republicans should want in the Senate.” Matt Schlapp, the pro-Trump chairman of the American Conservative Union, sent a letter to Kemp urging him to tap Collins.

Collins has earned plaudits in conservative circles when he led the GOP through Judiciary hearings connected to the Russia probe earlier this year.

Collins regularly slams the impeachment process as a “sham” and a “circus.” And on Thursday, he fired off a letter to Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) demanding that they obtain all evidence from the House Intelligence Committee’s underlying probe-- a preview of the fight that Collins is likely to wage, which will rely heavily on procedural weapons.

Yet Collins has also carved out a reputation on Capitol Hill as a bipartisan deal-maker, and has seemed like a reluctant warrior at times. Collins has made clear that he prefers legislating over bomb throwing, and notes he even signed his name to Nadler’s signature 9/11 health care bill a few months ago.

He says the impeachment process has been so unfair that Democrats have left him no choice but to be a fierce partisan. “I’ll play the role that I’m having to play,” Collins said. “Frankly, this committee has forced me to defend the integrity of the House, more than anything else. Because we have blatantly not followed the rules.”

“I’m willing to reach out and put my hand out, but unfortunately, many times this year, it’s gotten bit,” he added.

Collins is expected to bring a different flavor to the impeachment proceedings than Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

His colleagues describe Collins as friendly, no nonsense and high-energy-- he walks around the Capitol hallways bouncing a small rubber ball, his version of a fidget spinner. And while Collins might have a southern drawl, he speaks with the speed of an auctioneer.

“Doug was exactly the right guy to put in charge of that committee this cycle,” said Rep. Rob Woodall, a fellow Georgia Republican. “I expect [him to bring] southern gentility with a steel backbone that says, ‘I’m not gonna let us get run over.’”

If the Georgia governor does tap Collins to take over Isakson’s seat, it would hand him another key role in the impeachment saga. With the House aiming to wrap up impeachment by the end of year, Iskanson’s successor is likely to be asked to vote on whether to convict the president and remove him from office after a Senate trial.

“I don’t see how [the impeachment battle] does anything but help him… I don’t think there’s been any better defender of Trump than Doug Collins,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK). “I think this strengthens his hand, if this is the direction he wants to go.”

Former Rep. Jack Kingston, who has also applied for the Senate appointment, said he had not spoken to Kemp and had been counseled not to crowd the governor on the looming decision.

Kingston said he would consider running for the seat in 2020 if he’s not appointed, but added that he would be unlikely to challenge Collins because their politics are "well aligned."

"I think Doug Collins should and definitely would consider that," he said about Collins running for the seat next year.

"I think Brian Kemp wants to make sure he has a tested, pro-Trump conservative in there,” Kingston added. “I think in terms of avoiding a primary, that's what he will need to have."

Several prominent Republicans are considered top potential picks along with Collins, including Jan Jones, the speaker pro-tempore of the Georgia state House; businesswoman Kelly Loeffler; and two members of Kemp’s administration, Robyn Crittenden and Allen Poole.

Collins’ role as an ardent Trump defender would put him in a similar position as Sen. David Perdue, the first-term Republican who is also on the ballot in 2020 and is one of Trump’s strongest backers in the chamber.

“I have the highest respect for Doug Collins. He’s a great leader in the House,” Perdue said. “He has the full right to make that decision and we’ll go forward. I know the governor is still trying to make his decision right now and so we’ll see how this plays out.”

Some Republicans have been eager for a Senate appointee with a less partisan profile to help the party regain some of their standing in the Atlanta suburbs, an area where GOP support has cratered since 2016.

Georgia Republicans love Trump but, Georgia independents, who will decide who wins the general election, are markedly less enthusiastic. In the latest Morning Consult Trump Tracker Trump's approval in Georgia is underwater-- minus 3. More ominous is that since his inauguration, Trump's approval in Georgia has ticked steadily downward and has now decreased 21 points. His influence in a Republican primary will be paramount-- but they could well backfire in the general election where his toxicity will work against any Republican but more so against a Republican he has hand-picked.