Update: Sen. Johnny Isakson's campaign sent along the following response: "This is a ridiculous and false notion put forth by a convicted felon who also has filed bankruptcy multiple times." Heath Garrett, Isakson's campaign consultant, said.
To which Derrick Grayson responded: "(Donald) Trump filed more bankruptcies than I. My crime was over 25 years ago and I was pardoned. I am fully legal, in possession of all of my constitutional rights and I am a card carrying handgun concealed license holder."
Original post: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Derrick Grayson just crossed a bright line in political decorum: He's using incumbent U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's illness as a fundraising tool.
The press release that hit our inboxes a few minutes ago carries the subject line: "Do you want Nathan Deal to Appoint Your next Senator (capitalization is as it arrived)." In the body of the message, Grayson, who also ran for U.S. Senate in 2014, says he's "speaking to you from my heart of hearts." Wrote Grayson:
"We must stop this insanity and stop it now. I have seen Mr. Isakson and so have others. He has a very serious illness. While I pray for his well-being, it is a fact, that if he is re-elected, he will retire not long thereafter and Nathan Deal will appoint his replacement. I was told this from an insider last February, in 2015. Shortly afterwards, late March or early April, Mr. Isakson announced that he had Parkinson's Disease." (It was actually June.)"
What does Grayson, considered a longshot candidate at best, want recipients of the email to do? Donate to his campaign to help stop this nefarious plot. A video that accompanied the fund-raising request can be seen here:
Grayson is not the first to publicly raise the question of whether Isakson, should he win the nomination later this month and the general election in November, serve a full term. This past legislative session, a number of Republican state senators introduced a bill that would take away the governor's power to appoint a replacement should a U.S. senator fail to serve out his or her term.
Senate Bill 399 did not move, however.
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