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 bested Democrat Michelle Nunn in a heated, 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 Wedneday, 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.
After being beat up by Democrats about outsourcing during his business career, Perdue said a top issue for him will be reforming the tax rate corporations pay on overseas profits.
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.
“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.”
Perdue also called for a focus on energy policy, including a call to build the Keystone Pipeline to pump oil from western Canada to the United States. Nunn had also supported controversial pipeline, which has been under review for years.
“The word that keeps coming to my mind is responsibility,” he said. “We can find the right balane to protect the environment and grow our economy and securing our energy needs.”
Perdue ealso choed his comments from Tuesday night, thanking the state’s voters for propelling him into the Senate without a runoff, as Libertarian Amanda Swafford did not pull away much of the vote (1.9 percent). He also thanked his opponents and their supporters for getting involved.
“We took our message around the state, and it resonated and it worked,” Perdue said. “Because it was sincere. It was from the heart. More importantly, it was from your heart.
“And that’s what the people of this country and this state, that’s what they’re hearing tonight. But I want to remind you: Tonight we start a new journey to set a new course for America.”
As Perdue spoke, Fox News – projected on a large screen to his right – officially called the U.S. Senate to flip to Republican hands, prompting a raucous cheer and chants of “U.S.A.” from the crowd.
The GOP wave had washed through Georgia.
“We’ll get those 300 bills off of Harry Reid’s desk,” Perdue said, reprising a stump speech line about the outgoing majority leader stalling House-passed legislation. Perdue said an all-Republican Congress’ agenda should include corporate tax reform and tackling the long-term debt, along with addressing immediate crises like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Ebola.
In one interview Wednesday, Perdue said he will consider his six years in the Senate if he can hellp make serious headway on the national debt. Despite his criticism of the current administration, he said he realizes voters are “tired of the gridlock” and “they want us to lead on ideas that will get the people of Georgia working again.”
Nunn told a disappointed crowd in downtown Atlanta Tuesday that she called Perdue and “offered him my great congratulations.” But she said Democrats, who mounted the stiffest fight Republicans have faced in years, have much to be proud of.
“We have changed politics in Georgia,” she said. “Not just tonight. We’ve reminded people of what a two-party system looks like and a civil dialogue. We’ve lifted up and advocated issues that matter, whether it’s increasing the minimum wage, pay equity for women, bipartisan immigration reform.
“These are issues that we have lifted up and will continue to lift up.”
Democrats have much work to do, she said.
“We put Georgia in play,” Nunn said. “We built a foundation that needs to be cultivated, that needs to be built upon.”
A few miles away in festive Buckhead, the former CEO of Dollar General and Reebok laughed as he spoke of the long, strange trip that brought him to high office.
“Donors, some of you got the calls last year and the first words out of your mouth were ‘David, what are you thinking?’” Perdue said.
Perdue takes the place of U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, whose Jan. 2013 retirement announcement launched a frenzied two years of campaigning.
At that point, Perdue and Nunn were political novices who had never sought office before, yet they carried famous names: Perdue’s cousin, Sonny, was a two-term governor and Nunn’s father, Sam, was a four-term U.S. Senator.
The Democrat breezed through a primary against three underfunded foes. Perdue entered late against three sitting congressman and Georgia’s former secretary of state, but backed by millions of dollars of his own money and an “outsider” image untainted by political baggage.
Perdue bested GOP establishment forces who lined up behind Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah in a nine-week Republican runoff. Then as soon as he won in July, the Nunn campaign and Democratic allies unloaded blistering attacks on Perdue’s business record.
A 2005 deposition from Perdue was leaked in October and included the line that Perdue “spent most of my career” outsourcing. It fit with the Democrats’ narrative and prompted renewed scrutiny on Perdue, particularly when he said he was “proud” of his career and denied outsourcing jobs — only products and services.
The election came down to a battle of O’s — Outsourcing vs. Obama. Perdue tied President Barack Obama to Nunn any chance he got, along with Reid.
Big names flocked to Georgia, including past and future White House contenders from both parties eyeing a potential 2016 swing state.
Nunn appeared with her father and former Gov. Zell Miller in the campaign’s final weeks to try to reinforce a centrist message and used the word “bipartisan” almost as much as Perdue used “Obama,” but it was not enough.
As returns rolled in looking good for Republicans across the country, Chambliss said Perdue had been part of the tide — but also held up individually in a tough campaign.
“We’ve had the wind at our back nationally,” Chambliss said. “And secondly, as I’ve been around the state over the last 10 days, I’ve been very pleased to see the reaction of people about David’s campaign. They’ve seen through the negative ads and they know this guy has the right kind of background to do a good job in the U.S. Senate, and they came home.”
Exit polls found just a third of voters believing the country was moving in the right direction. A full 80 percent said they were worried about the direction of the economy in the coming year. About four in 10 said they were “very” worried. About half of voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country.
Befitting the race’s national stature and importance to who controls the closely divided U.S. Senate, 90 percent of voters said they considered party control of the Senate important, and around three-quarters considered it very important.
About the Author
