Republican David Perdue, a businessman who was virtually unknown in political circles just 18 months ago, will be Georgia’s next United States senator.
The Fortune 500 CEO and cousin of former Gov. Sonny Perdue bested Democrat Michelle Nunn in a tightly contested race that was by far the most expensive Senate contest in state history.
Unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s website show Perdue winning with 53 percent of the vote to Nunn’s 45 percent.
Early Wednesday, Perdue told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the race showed him voters all along the political spectrum were tired of a no-action Congress.
“We have got to get results,” he said in between a gauntlet of morning TV and radio appearances.
That means moving some of the legislation that cleared the Republican-controlled House but stalled in the Democrat-held Senate, Perdue said. His priority: reducing or eliminating the corporate taxes that U.S. companies pay on profits overseas.
Current law allows companies to defer taxes until they bring the money home, something Perdue said forces firms to move jobs, factories and profits overseas. Democrats made such outsourcing a key attack against Perdue, who acknowledged shipping jobs abroad during his business career
“I believe Democrats, Republicans, independents and Libertarians can all get behind at least reducing if not eliminating the repatriation tax so we can bring our money back and invest in jobs in this country,” Perdue said. “I think we can all agree about growing the economy and the need for tax reform.”
Unofficial results in the election show Perdue captured 53 percent of the vote, to Nunn’s 45. Libertarian Amanda Swafford pulled away an insignificant share of the vote, keeping the race from a runoff election.
The winner takes the place of U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, whose Jan. 2013 retirement announcement launched a frenzied two years of campaigning.
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