RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: David Perdue made his own choice to enter Georgia governor’s race

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that former Sen. David Perdue made his own choice to challenge Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

“David Perdue is perfectly capable of making his own choices. And [former] President [Donald] Trump, obviously, has gotten involved,” Mrs. McDaniel said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Mr. Perdue trails Mr. Kemp by a wide margin in polls ahead of the Republican primary election. But Mrs. McDaniel noted that a runoff election is possible if Mr. Kemp doesn’t win at least 50% of the primary vote.

“The votes haven’t been counted. Kemp needs to pass a 50% threshold to win the nomination outright, and we’ll see what happens then,” she said.

Mr. Trump recruited and endorsed Mr. Perdue to run against Mr. Kemp, who had rejected the former president’s claims of election fraud in Georgia.

Mrs. McDaniel said “the power of [Mr. Trump’s] endorsement is astounding.”

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“You know, President Trump has endorsed in 84 races, he’s won 81. That’s like an A+. Just a note, Joe Biden is not being asked to endorse in any race because no Democrat wants to be seen with him, including Stacey Abrams, who is running [for governor] in Georgia,” she said.

The former president has endorsed more than 150 candidates in this year’s midterm elections.

In Alabama, the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate will be held Tuesday. Mr. Trump initially endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks in April 2021 but rescinded that endorsement last March, and Mr. Brooks’ numbers declined precipitously.

Polls show Mr. Brooks is just behind front-runner Katie Britt. A winner in the primary will need 50% of the vote to clinch the nomination to avoid a runoff.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to get a final say on this Alabama race,” Ms. McDaniel said. “I don’t think any of the three candidates are going to get over 50%, so we’re going to go to a runoff and then we’ll find out who the nominee is going to be in Alabama. I think we’re going to keep that seat.”