Kemp makes case for Dooley in call to GOP donors

“Another congressman from a heavily Republican district with a congressional voting record isn’t going to work,” he said in audio obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I know and respect both Congressmen Carter and Collins. This is not an attack on them. It’s just the way that I feel. Ossoff will have hundreds of millions of dollars to define anyone’s voting record in the worst possible light.”

Kemp framed Dooley as the only candidate who can keep the focus on Ossoff, a first-term Democrat who has been working to consolidate the coalition that elected him in a 2021 runoff.

“He’s a hard worker who can connect with people and will bring common sense to Washington,” the governor said. “While he may not have a political background, he has been tested more than most.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

In a statement posted to social media, Collins said he respects Kemp and the “incredible job” he’s done in the state’s top job, but he said Dooley’s spotty voting record — he has acknowledged rarely voting in presidential elections over 20 years — makes him an impossible sell to the Republican base.

“If we nominate someone who didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016 or 2020, never registered as a Republican, and hasn’t lived in Georgia for 25 years, the base will not show up, the low-propensity Trump voters will stay home, and Jon Ossoff will win again — period,” he said.

Dooley’s GOP rivals are eager to turn his coaching record into a liability, the son of former Georgia legend Vince Dooley has made clear he won’t shy away from his gridiron past.

In an interview with “Politically Georgia,” Dooley said his career, warts and all, sets him apart from Buddy Carter and Mike Collins, who have both mocked his stint as Tennessee’s head coach.

Dooley, meanwhile, boasts support from Kemp, who is putting the full might of his political machine behind his bid.

Dooley won’t be the only candidate working the crowds at the season opener against Marshall University, a reminder that the Bulldogs remain a rare unifier in one of the nation’s most competitive states. Other candidates and their campaigns will press the flesh outside Sanford Stadium, eager to mobilize the tens of thousands of fans who flock to Athens each home game.

The spectacle itself is hardly unique.

Kemp, a diehard Bulldog fan who grew up near campus, has long woven red-and-black pride into his political brand. Herschel Walker, the GOP’s 2022 Senate nominee, rarely missed a chance to turn his football stardom into political capital. And Jason Carter, the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor, steered his campaign bus to Jacksonville, Florida, to wade through throngs of voters at Georgia’s annual grudge match against the University of Florida.