Fresh off the Cleveland convention, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will head to Georgia on Friday to campaign for state Sen. Mike Crane in the hotly contested runoff to replace U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in the 3rd congressional District.
The one-time Republican presidential candidate will host a "Rally for Freedom" at Newnan Centre at 6 p.m., Crane's campaign announced.
Cruz's visit comes amid reports that he's building the groundwork for another White House run in 2020. But even more critically for Crane, it'll be four days before voters hit the polls in the 3rd District GOP runoff to decide whether he'll face Democrat Angela Pendley in November in this deeply red part of the state. He's up against former West Point mayor Drew Ferguson.
The west-central Georgia district has been inundated with attack ads in recent weeks, many paid for by Washington-based groups fighting a proxy battle over the future of the Republican Party. Crane's gotten backing from the Club for Growth, the conservative lobbying group that pushes for cutting taxes and limited government. The Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, is backing Ferguson with a six-figure financial commitment ahead of Election Day on July 26.
Crane backed Cruz in Georgia's presidential primary back in March and is in many ways cut from the same religious and socially conservative cloth.
"His visit to the Third District will energize the final days of this election and help rally the grassroots to send a clear message to the political elite and reclaim this seat for true conservatism," the state senator said in a statement.
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