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FROM MDJ 12-14-21 :
AROUND TOWN: Perdue sets up camp in Cobb County
The battle lines are being drawn in Cobb County with former Sen. David Perdue’s decision to challenge Gov. Brian Kemp in the Republican primary next year.
Financial adviser John Beville and political consultant Stan Fitzgerald are co-chairing the Perdue campaign in Cobb. Beville said he’s known Perdue for over 40 years and supported him ever since he first ran for U.S. Senate. A Sandy Springs native who went to Auburn, Beville and his wife PK, who live in east Cobb, have three children and nine grandchildren.
Perdue’s other Cobb co-chair, Fitzgerald, grew up in New Jersey where he attended Morris County College. Fitzgerald, who lives in Acworth with his wife, is a political consultant on the campaigns of conservative congressional candidates Mallory Staples, who is running for U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s 6th Congressional District, and YG Nyghtstorm, candidate for U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux’ 7th Congressional District. Fitzgerald is also a political adviser on the campaign of Republican state Sen. Burt Jones, candidate for lieutenant governor.
Democrats have expressed delight in Perdue’s decision to primary Kemp. Some Republicans, meanwhile, are concerned a primary will be so bloody that whoever wins will be weakened when facing Democrat Stacey Abrams in the general. Beville said it’s a fair question.
“My belief and my effort in this campaign is to run a hard campaign as David being good at what he does and what his ideas are, not to belittle, diminish Mr. Kemp. Now that’s just my personal goal. And I talk to David the same way I’ve just talked to you. To me, David should stand on his own, what he believes and what he can do. He can have Trump’s endorsement. That’s all well and fine, but he should make sure people understand that Mr. Trump does not dictate what David does, which is true by the way. The other side is, I hope both sides, or however many sides are left, that we don’t get down in the mud.”
Tell the voter why to vote for you rather than why not to vote for the other guy, Beville argues.
“I think Stacey is going to bring us together, whatever happens,” he said.
So how will Perdue, should he win the primary, beat the formidable Abrams when he lost to Jon Ossoff in the January Senate runoff?
Fitzgerald answered this question.
“According to statistics, over 200,000 people did not go out and vote in the Senate runoff. So to beat Stacey, we need to unify the Republican base and get everybody out to vote. And I think the math will show we can beat her,” Fitzgerald said.
Both men believe that base can be turned out on Election Day.
“I think with President Trump’s help, we can unify the base and get people out to vote,” said Fitzgerald, who was visiting Mar-a-Lago this week.
