Republicans' Senate Majority At Risk As Georgia GOP Fight Over Seat

With a Senate seat open in Georgia, Republicans had expected their appointed incumbent to seek and handily retain the seat this fall. Things aren’t quite going according to plan, however, once Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., threw his hat into the ring.

Facing health troubles, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., announced that he would be stepping down from the Senate in December. He was replaced by Sen. Kelly Loeffer, R-Ga., who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp passed over Collins, despite having been personally recommended as a replacement by President Donald Trump.

Since then, Collins announced that he would not be seeking reelection to the House. At the time, speculation swirled around whether he was planning to join the Trump administration or pursue the Senate.

A sharp divide has emerged among Georgia Republicans concerning Collins and Loeffer. Collins’ bid for the Senate has been thoroughly condemned by some major conservative groups, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, which has called the congressman “selfish.” They warn that his campaign could ultimately undermine Republicans’ hold on the Senate.

The executive director of the NRSC, Kevin McLaughlin, told CNN that “Collins is everything Georgians hate about Washington. He is a swamp creature that claims to be conservative.” He hoped that Collins “does the right thing and walks away from this poor decision. Otherwise, voters will make it for him.”

Dan McLagan, a spokesman for Collins, said the NRSC is bending over backwards to undermine Collins’ campaign. “They are trying to shut down any competition. The NRSC is threatening vendors, calling their clients and pressuring them to not work with us,” McLagan said.

Because Georgians will be voting in a special election in November – while skipping out on the party nomination process – all candidates will be included on the ballot. In order to claim victory, however, a single candidate must claim more than 50 percent of the vote; if that doesn’t happen, a two-person runoff vote will be held in January.

Since both Collins and Loeffer will be appearing on the ballot, Republicans fret that it will end up splitting the vote while opening the door for a Democratic challenger to claim the seat. There is also concern that Republican infighting will impact the reelection campaign for Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga..

With both Senate seats in Georgia at risk, Republicans worry that Democrats could successfully win one or both – Democrats need to flip just four seats to gain a majority in the Senate.