David Perdue joins lawsuit seeking to prove he and Trump were cheated out of election victories

David Perdue is joining a lawsuit with President Trump seeking to prove they were both cheated out of victory, nearly a year after their losses in the Peach State.  

The suit comes just days after Perdue, a former Senator who lost reelection this year, announced he will challenge GOP Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2022 gubernatorial race. Kemp was a frequent target of Trump who said the governor did not do enough to overturn his election loss. 

The suit claims that fraudulent and counterfeit ballots were counted in Fulton County, the state’s most populous.  

Perdue, who served in the Senate from 2015 to 2021, was recruited to run by Trump after he turned on Kemp. The former president even quipped during a rally that he would rather see Democrat Stacey Abrams in charge of Georgia than Kemp. 

Trump’s claims about widespread election fraud have been blamed for dividing Georgia Republicans ahead of a pair of U.S. Senate run-off elections last January, in which Perdue was defeated by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. 

Perdue, who served in the Senate from 2015 to 2021, was recruited to run for governor by Trump after he turned on Kemp

Trump's claims about widespread election fraud have been blamed for dividing Georgia Republicans ahead of a pair of U.S. Senate run-off elections last January, in which Perdue was defeated by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff

Trump’s claims about widespread election fraud have been blamed for dividing Georgia Republicans ahead of a pair of U.S. Senate run-off elections last January, in which Perdue was defeated by Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff

Former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler also lost to Democrat Raphael Warnock in the run-offs.  

Perdue lost to Sen. Jon Ossoff, above, by about 55,000 votes, 1.2 percentage points

Perdue lost to Sen. Jon Ossoff, above, by about 55,000 votes, 1.2 percentage points

Perdue conceded his loss to Ossoff last January, telling supporters: ‘Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia’s 50 percent rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win.’

Perdue lost by about 55,000 votes, 1.2 percentage points.

A Kemp spokesperson pointed out that Perdue had waited almost a year to file suit. 

‘David Perdue is so concerned about election fraud that he waited a year to file a lawsuit that conveniently coincided with his disastrous campaign launch,’ said Kemp spokesperson Cody Hall. ‘Keep in mind that lawsuit after lawsuit regarding the 2020 election was dismissed in part because Perdue declined to be listed as a plaintiff.’ 

The suit is not seeking to overturn the 2020 election results but to to examine paper ballots and other ballot materials in Fulton County, saying that it will prove fraud. 

‘I want to use my position and legal standing to shine light on what I know were serious violations of Georgia law in the Fulton absentee ballot tabulation,’ Perdue said in a statement released by lawyers. ‘We are asking a judge to consider the evidence after our forensic examination of the absentee ballots is completed and hold those persons responsible who engaged in this wrongful conduct.’ 

Responding to reports that Perdue would challenge Kemp earlier this week, Hall blasted Perdue as ‘the man who lost Republicans the United States Senate.’

‘Governor Kemp has a proven track record of fighting the radical left to put hardworking Georgians first,’ he said in a statement.

Kemp had previously said he was informed by Perdue himself that he was not planning on running against him in the future.

Trump is furious at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for not overturning Joe Biden's presidential win in the state last  year

Trump is furious at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for not overturning Joe Biden’s presidential win in the state last  year

‘All I know is what Senator Perdue has told me, I hope he’ll be a man of his word, but again that’s not anything I can control,’ Kemp told POLITICO.

Tacking further to the right than Kemp, Perdue said earlier this week that he would not have signed the certification of Georgia’s 2020 election results if he had been governor at the time. 

‘Not with the information that was available at the time and not with the information that has come out now. They had plenty of time to investigate this. And I wouldn’t have signed it until those things had been investigated, and that’s all we were asking for,’ he told Axios. 

There has been no evidence of widespread fraud in Georgia’s election results, and the votes were tallied three times, once by hand. 

Georgia election law also does not allow for the governor or the secretary of state to certify results. Any challenge to election results must happen through the courts.

Trump endorsed Perdue’s run for governor soon after the former governor announced it.

‘Kemp has been a very weak Governor—the liberals and RINOs have run all over him on Election Integrity, and more,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘Brian Kemp has failed Georgia. He caved to Stacey Abrams before the 2020 Election and allowed massive Election Fraud to take place.’ 

Trump called Perdue a ‘Conservative fighter who isn’t afraid of the Radical Left, and is the only candidate in Georgia who can beat Stacey ‘The Hoax’ Abrams in November.’ 

Even though Perdue has Trump’s backing, Kemp has maintained his image as a well-respected politician as he has served two terms as secretary of state and has acquired about $12 million in campaign funds. 

In the end, either Perdue or Kemp will be facing Democratic candidate Abrams in the election.

Abrams lost to Georgia’s GOP Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018 by 1.4 percentage points, though she never conceded that race, citing ‘gross mismanagement’ by Kemp in his role as secretary of state overseeing the election.