Republican senatorial candidate Derek Dooley made a stop in Coweta County yesterday as part of his ‘Georgia First’ tour ahead of the May 19th GOP primary.
The event took place at the iconic Redneck Gourmet restaurant in downtown Newnan and featured Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) alongside First Lady Marty Kemp.
Gov. Kemp was the first to speak and expressed gratitude to all of his supporters. He then made his case for a political outsider, listing recent GOP successes and a formula for defeating Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
He stated, “You know the name, Bernie Moreno. He's serving in the Senate from Ohio. He beat Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent. Bernie Moreno's a political outsider, a former car salesman. Wanted to take our country back, ran against an incumbent, and won.”
“That is the recipe we need to beat John Ossoff," Gov. Kemp added. "Somebody who doesn't have to defend a long record or other things that they've done or said over the years, but somebody who can stay on offense, somebody who wants to bring a new vision and a new style of leadership to the United States Senate. That is what will beat this guy.”
Derek Dooley's Remarks
Dooley spoke about why Sen. Ossoff poses such a challenge, saying that the Senator purposefully avoids screen time and is waiting to mount an offensive against vulnerable candidates.
He stated, “One of the first things that I learned was that most people really don't know much about John Ossoff. He lies low. You never see him grandstanding on CNN, you don't see him standing next to Chuck Schumer waving the party flag, and I really believe it's strategic.”
“He's building a war chest right now, with money from all over the country, and he's hoping one of the two sitting congressmen that I'm running against gets elected,” Dooley continued. “So he can take all that money and go full attack, whether it's Buddy Carter's long careerism or whether it's Mike Collins's corruption charge, whatever it is, to keep them on defense and keep the spotlight off of who John Ossoff is. He cannot do those things to me.”
Exclusive Comment
In an exclusive interview with Dome Politics, the outsider candidate made his appeal to Republican voters likely to see reliable insiders as the safe option.
Dooley stated, “I think Congress has changed. I don't think Congress is working for the people the way it used to. There's a lot of yelling and screaming, and nobody's getting anything done.”
“I think we need new leadership, and more importantly, I think we need to change how Washington runs its business," Dooley commented. "That's one of the things I'm pushing for, like term limits, banning stock trading, and stopping these government shutdowns. We have to get back trust to the people that Congress is working for them, and right now, it doesn't exist.”
Gov. Kemp also weighed in, reiterating his belief that only Dooley has what it takes to beat Sen. Ossoff.
He stated, “I would also add to that that people need to ask themselves the question of who can actually beat John Ossoff. Who gives us the best chance of doing that? Because we've tried this multiple times now. This is our last shot. We've got to make it happen. And it's just a fact that political outsiders are the best chance to beat him.”
