ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp threw his full support behind football coach Derek Dooley on Saturday, saying he believes the son of legendary Bulldogs coach Vince Dooley can unseat Democrat Jon Ossoff from the U.S. Senate next year.
“I am proud to endorse Derek Dooley, for United States Senate,” the two-term Republican governor said Saturday. “Derek is a fighter, a leader we can trust, and a true political outsider who has what it takes to defeat Jon Ossoff and make sure our state finally has a voice in the U.S. Senate that reflects our values.”
Kemp held his first public event for Dooley outside the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium before the Bulldogs routed Marshall University’s Thundering Herd 45-7.
Dooley, a political newcomer, said he hoped to bring Kemp’s conservative leadership style to Washington by beating Ossoff in November.
First, he will have to get through two GOP congressmen also competing for the GOP nomination.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons, was the first major political figure to jump into the race followed by U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson.
Both have aligned themselves with President Donald Trump, trying to win his potent base of support in the Republican primary.
Democrats responded by attacking Dooley’s record as a former coach for the University of Tennessee, calling him “failed and fired.” They also referenced the troubled history between Kemp and Trump.
The Georgia Democrats said Kemp’s endorsement “is fanning the flames of an already chaotic GOP U.S. Senate primary and guaranteeing a showdown between himself and Trump that could be worse than Dooley’s job-ending 2012 loss to Vanderbilt.”