Joseph Ax

(Reuters) – Trump’s former President returns to Georgia on Saturday, where he will be testing his enduring power over the Republican Party. Georgia has been the ground zero of his false claims about 2020 elections being stolen.

Trump made significant political investments in Georgia. He endorsed a list of candidates for the state in order to remove Governor Brian Kemp (and his associates) who have failed to reverse presidential election results.

Georgia’s primary election on May 24th will give us perhaps the best indication yet about Trump’s abilities to be kingmaker in 2022.

The report will give an insight into the efforts of Republican candidates to balance Trump’s obsessiveness about 2020 elections with national Republican leaders preferring to pay attention to President Joe Biden’s performance in office.

“This is a really hard test for him – and a crucial one,” said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. Trump’s popularity is not a guarantee that voters will vote for him in the primary.

Trump’s strong involvement in the election reflects his disappointment that Kemp and other officials failed to change his results. Biden was the first Democrat in Georgia to win this state since nearly thirty years.

According to polls, Kemp is comfortably ahead of Trump’s favorite candidate, the former U.S. Senator. Even though Trump has often criticized the incumbent governor, Senator David Perdue is a strong candidate.

Trump also endorsed Jody Hice (U.S. Representative), who is running to replace Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State. Raffensperger refused Trump’s request to alter the result and declared 2020 elections fair and correct after several audits and reviews.

Trump also supported down-ballot candidates for attorney general and lieutenant governor, as well as for insurance commissioner. In each instance, Trump sided with candidates who he believes are not doing enough to support his fraudulent claims.

Amy Steigerwalt (political science professor at Georgia State University) stated that it is not clear that his endorsement gives candidates an automatic boost.

Perdue’s spokesperson said that his support will only increase as more people become aware about Trump’s endorsement.

Trump’s spokesperson did not respond when asked.

TRUMP STILL PUTTING ELECTION FALSEHOODS

Republicans fear that there could be a division in the ranks which would allow Stacey Abrams (Democratic gubernatorial Candidate), the voting rights activist and narrow loser to Kemp, to gain November’s rematch.

Some Republicans believe that Trump’s words after the November 2020 election cost them the twin Senate elections in Georgia. In January 2021 the Democrats took control of the chamber.

Tate Mitchell spoke on behalf of Kemp and said that Kemp was focused on winning endorsements from Georgia Republicans on May 24, 2015. He also wanted to make sure Stacey Abrams wasn’t our governor.

Trump continues to be the leading Republican figure in the party, while candidates for the office of president continue to appeal to him. He has stated that he does not expect his supporters to believe his false claim that Biden won in 2020. This assertion has repeatedly been refuted by judges, election auditors, and other officials.

Trump reversed his endorsement for U.S. Representative Mo Brooks in a Senate race here in Alabama earlier this week after Brooks informed voters that it was time to leave 2020 behind.

In an interview with a conservative outlet ahead of Trump’s visit, Perdue – who lost his Senate seat in 2020 – said both his and Trump’s elections were “stolen,” citing a lawsuit he has filed seeking to examine thousands of ballots in Fulton County.

According to county election officials, there were no irregularities during the counting.

Many Republicans including Senator majority leader Mitch McConnell have asked the party not to focus on 2020 and instead, put it behind them. In the past, the party that holds the White House lost its seats to Congress in the president’s first midterm election.

Geoff Duncan (Georgia Lieutenant Governor), a Republican, isn’t running for reelection. Instead, he founded GOP 2.0 which aims to move the party past Trump.

This week, the organization published an advertisement criticizing Trump and Perdue because they prefer to speak about conspiracy theories and past losses rather than offer a vision of the future.