U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign has brought on a former field director for Gov. Brian Kemp to run her on-the-ground voter outreach operations ahead of the Nov. 3 special election.
Chris Allen, who ran then-gubernatorial candidate Kemp’s outreach in 2018, has been tapped as Loeffler’s state field director in charge of voter mobilization efforts, her campaign announced Monday.
Allen also managed state Rep. Kevin Tanner’s campaign for the 9th Congressional District seat that he lost in the Republican primary in June.
Loeffler, R-Ga., is looking to fend off challengers from all sides as she campaigns to keep her Senate seat, to which she was appointed by Kemp in December to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
The race has drawn 20 candidates seeking to unseat Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman and wife of Jeff Sprecher, CEO of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which owns the New York Stock Exchange.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, whom Kemp passed over for the Senate appointment in favor of Loeffler, is aiming to shore up conservative grassroots support ahead of the election. His campaign has polled neck-and-neck with Loeffler’s in recent polls.
On the Democratic side, Rev. Raphael Warnock is pushing to distinguish himself on issues from his Republican counterparts as he collects a stream of endorsements from prominent Democratic groups and leaders.
Warnock, the senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, is facing fellow Democrat Matt Lieberman, the son of former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who polled higher than Warnock in a Monmouth University poll released last week.
The Nov. 3 special election is a free-for-all contest involving candidates from all parties on the same ballot. A runoff will be held in January if no candidate gains more than 50% of votes.