Republican Perdue May Seek Senate Return by Challenging Warnock

(Bloomberg) -- Former Republican Senator David Perdue has taken a preliminary step toward running again in Georgia after narrowly losing his seat in a runoff election last month, a move that would set up a sequel to the epic contests that gave Democrats control of the Senate.

Perdue, 71, filed a statement of candidacy Monday with the Federal Election Commission to challenge Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in the 2022 election.

Perdue, a former chief executive of Reebok International Ltd. and Dollar General Corp., served one term in the Senate before losing one of the most expensive Senate races in history to Democrat Jon Ossoff in the Jan. 5 runoff in Georgia. Warnock, 51, defeated Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, herself a former corporate executive, who had been appointed to complete the unexpired term of former Senator Johnny Isakson, who retired.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported Perdue’s filing, cited unnamed aides as saying Perdue has not made a final decision about running in the next election but is heavily leaning toward doing so.

Other Republicans could also jump into the race, including former Representative Doug Collins, who lost to the self-financed Loeffler in the first round of voting last November.

Both Perdue and Loeffler had aligned themselves closely with former President Donald Trump and backed some of his baseless claims of voter irregularities.

The victories by Warnock and Ossoff gave control of the Senate to Democrats. But each won by narrow margins in a state where Republican dominance has been slipping. Warnock will be one of the main targets of the GOP in 2022 and defeating him could help flip control of the chamber back to Republicans.

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