Gov. Brian Kemp, U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley make stop in Columbus
Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley visited Columbus on Friday, making their case for Dooley to be the Republicans’ best chance to beat Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) as the GOP primary runoff election against U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Jackson) approaches.
Kemp and Dooley, a former college football coach, attended a meet-and-greet event at Scofflaw, visiting with Columbus residents along with local leaders, including state Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) and Columbus Councilor John Anker, the incumbent who is facing his own runoff against dentist Cathy Cook for the council’s citywide District 9 seat.
“I decided to come because these are Columbus citizens who are engaged in politics,” Anker told the Ledger-Enquirer. “I want to talk about the issues that help the most citizens. That includes you and them and me, and Coach is part of that, if he makes it through this runoff to the November election.”
Robertson has endorsed Dooley. He spoke with Dooley to “reinforce my support for him, to reinforce the character that I’ve seen in him,” Robertson told the Ledger-Enquirer.
“Once he is our nominee, I’m willing to go anywhere in the state of Georgia, anywhere in the United States of America, and stand up for somebody with his character, his energy and in the good that I know will do for the state of Georgia,” Robertson said.
Kemp, who has supported Dooley throughout the campaign, said Dooley’s status as an “outsider” was part of the reason he believed Dooley would be a better Republican candidate to run against Ossoff.
“If you take all the personalities out of the Republican primary, you simply ask the question, ‘Who and what is the right dynamic to beat an incumbent senator?’” Kemp said. “It is political outsiders like Derek Dooley that have done that around the country.”
Dooley also used this argument to make his case for why he should be the Republican nominee against Ossoff.
“We already know what (Ossoff’s) game plan is,” said Dooley, whose late father, Vince, was the University of Georgia’s head football coach for 25 seasons, winning six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship. “He’s building up a war chest. He’s hoping Mike Collins, my opponent, wins this nomination so that he can go full attack on Mike’s House ethics charge for abusing taxpayer money or maybe a lot of the inappropriate social media posts his campaign and him has put out.”
The House Ethics Committee announced last year it was reviewing a complaint into whether Collins misused government funds.
Dooley said he would not have to defend his record but would be able to criticize Ossoff on inflation and immigration.
However, Dooley and Kemp have also faced an allegation related to “pay-to-play” politics involving a company owned by Dooley’s brother and Kemp’s friend, Daniel Dooley, according to 11Alive and USA Today.
A Republican hasn’t won a Senate race in Georgia in 10 years, Dooley said, and there is a lesson to be learned from Kemp’s win against Stacey Abrams, when thousands of people voted for Kemp and Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-GA).
“If you’re going to win statewide, not a heavy red–leaning congressional district, a statewide race, you’ve got to have a candidate not only can energize the Trump Republican voters, but you better have somebody that can find a little common ground or maybe have a leadership style that resonates with voters who don’t always vote Republican,” Dooley said.
Voter turnout is also a concern for the Republican Party, Anker told the Ledger-Enquirer. He spoke with Dooley about his concerns about the early voting turnout among Democrats and Republicans in Columbus.
“The Republicans have not shown up,” Anker said. “I said, ‘Hey, look, we’re not getting a good turnout. There’s not a lot of engagement.”
Friday was the last day of early voting before the June 16 runoff election.
“I’m depending on the same thing he is,” said Anker, who is running in a nonpartisan election. “And that’s votes from the people in this community. That’s why I’m here.”
Dooley said, if elected, he plans to stick to what he calls his “Georgia First Contract”, which features five key pledges
- Remain loyal to the people of Georgia.
- Serve only two terms and support term limits.
- Commit to not taking part in trading stocks or cryptocurrency.
- Never take a check during a government shutdown.
- Promise to host 10 town halls to answer to voters.
Dooley encouraged residents who attended the meet-and-greet to encourage others to vote in the runoff election.
“All I care about is when we pass this country on to the next generation that they have the same pride in it that we do,” he said. “We’ve got a little work to do, but it always starts with leadership.”
