Perdue is leaning in to launch another campaign, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
If he decides to run, Perdue will take on Georgian Senator Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and Perdue respectively in January, toppling the Senate. The two Democrats were the first elected to the Georgia Senate in 20 years.
Perdue said in a statement at the time: “Although we won the general election, we did not respect Georgia’s 50% rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this. victory in the second round. “
“Bonnie and I will continue to pray for our wonderful state and great country. May God continue to bless Georgia and the United States of America.”
Perdue’s campaign had come under scrutiny after deliberately mispronouncing Kamala Harris’ name. He was also forced to run a digital ad attacking Ossoff, which showed the Democrat’s nose enlarged, a hallmark of an anti-Semitic trope.
A campaign spokesperson at the time called the distorted image “accidental … but to avoid confusion, we immediately removed the image from Facebook.”
The spokeswoman said Perdue had a “strong and consistent record of taking a strong stand against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate” and co-sponsored a resolution in 2019 condemning anti-Semitism.
While January’s tight political schedule meant Perdue was not in office when Congress met for a joint session on the Electoral College, he told Fox News ahead of the count that he was siding with the objectors while disseminating false information about electoral fraud.
“I encourage my colleagues to speak out. This is something the American people are calling for right now,” Perdue said at the time. “There are huge irregularities in Georgia. They need to be investigated, and they need to be corrected, in my opinion.”
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
