Businessman David Perdue has won the bitter nine-week run-off contest to become Georgia's Republican Senate nominee, besting Rep. Jack Kingston, according to the Associated Press.
During the bruising campaign, Perdue painted Kingston, an 11-term congressman, as a Washington insider beholden to D.C. special interests, while Kingston bashed Perdue as an out-of-touch political novice living in a gated community.
The Republicans were the top two finishers in the state's crowded May 20 primary election but neither reached the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
Perdue won more votes in the May 20 contest, but Kingston racked up major endorsements in and out of Georgia during the runoff. The United States Chamber of Commerce became a major player in the race, backing Kingston and ridiculing Perdue in a last-minute ad for 'crying like a little baby' over failing to secure the group's endorsement. In his own late ad, Perdue tried to tie Kingston to the Chamber's 'pro-amnesty' stance on a comprehensive immigration bill.
Perdue will now face Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter of a popular former Georgia senator and onetime head of the Points of Light volunteer group. Nunn is well funded and enjoyed more than two months of overtime intraparty GOP tussling to build her campaign. But the state can be tough territory for her party; no Democrat has won an open statewide race in Georgia since 1998.
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First published July 22 2014, 8:45 PM
Carrie Dann
Carrie Dann is a national political writer for NBCNews.com. She has worked for NBC and NBCNews.com since 2006. Dann writes about politics and Congress. Dann rejoined the web team after 18 months as a campaign reporter for NBC News, covering presidential and vice presidential candidates during the 2012 election. She also covered the 2007-2008 presidential campaign for NBC, including extensive reporting on the Iowa caucuses.Prior to her work at NBCNews.com, Dann was a staff reporter at CongressDaily, where she covered lobbying and government reform.A Virginia native, she now lives in Washington, D.C.
Entities 0 Name: Perdue Count: 6 1 Name: Kingston Count: 5 2 Name: Georgia Count: 4 3 Name: Dann Count: 3 4 Name: Iowa Count: 2 5 Name: Washington Count: 2 6 Name: NBC Count: 2 7 Name: Jack Kingston Count: 1 8 Name: United States Chamber of Commerce Count: 1 9 Name: Democrat Michelle Nunn Count: 1 10 Name: Congress Count: 1 11 Name: Virginia Count: 1 12 Name: Carrie Dann Carrie Dann Count: 1 13 Name: Nunn Count: 1 14 Name: Republican Senate Count: 1 15 Name: NBC News Count: 1 16 Name: New Hampshire Count: 1 17 Name: Associated Press Count: 1 18 Name: D.C. Count: 1 19 Name: David Perdue Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1wVSELC Title: GOP voters in Georgia to decide Senate nominee Description: After a bruising nine-week runoff campaign, Georgia Republicans will finally have their Senate nominee who will compete against Democrat Michelle Nunn for a seat the GOP can ill afford to lose as the party looks to take control of the chamber. Voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide between Rep.
