Republican Brian Kemp is turning to one of the state's most popular politicians for an extra boost two weeks before a tight election.
His campaign on Monday debuted a 30-second spot featuring Gov. Nathan Deal, who spoke directly to the camera to praise Kemp as the “only candidate who will keep Georgia moving forward.”
“Brian is a businessman who will grow our economy and create jobs by investing in education and a skilled workforce. And Brian will keep Georgia safe and strong,” said the governor, adding for emphasis: “Brian Kemp will keep Georgia moving in the right direction.”
It is the governor's highest-profile incursion yet into the race to succeed him, and it comes as a litany of polls show a statistical tie in the race for governor between Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.
The governor was a reluctant supporter of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the July runoff, then quickly endorsed Kemp after his runaway victory. But he's had little public involvement in the race since then, at times even gently chiding both candidates over their campaign messages.
In the closing stretch of the race, Deal could be a key ally for Kemp – particularly in the governor’s Gainesville-area base, home to a trove of conservative voters that helped power his two statewide victories.
After modeling his campaign after Donald Trump's rhetoric, Kemp invokes Deal's name far more often than he mentions the president. And polls show Deal is the most popular politician in Georgia, thanks to solid approval from Republicans and healthy support among Democrats.
Still, there’s no word yet that Deal will hit the campaign trail with Kemp. And his TV image may be somewhat limited, too. Kemp’s campaign must weigh whether to swap out negative attacks on Abrams that could energize their voters with the more positive ad featuring Deal.
And positive is what this is: Deal doesn’t mention Abrams, nor does he attack her policies. The closest he gets is a broad message-tested statement aimed at the middle of the electorate: “This election is about Georgia’s future. We can’t afford billions in big government with higher taxes.”
Abrams, meanwhile, has tried to cast herself as the heir to at least part of the governor's legacy.
She brings up Deal’s name relentlessly on the campaign trail, too, praising his economic development credentials while panning his refusal to expand the Medicaid program.
But she's most effusive about his criminal justice overhaul, an eight-year project that Abrams said embodied "pragmatism that led him to be willing to work across the aisle but also to push back on his own people."
Watch the ad here:
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