Former Sen. David Perdue will run for Georgia governor in 2022, challenge Gov. Brian Kemp in GOP primary

Former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia.

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• Former Sen. David Perdue will challenge Gov. Brian Kemp for Georgia governor next year, per the AJC.
• The contest between the two conservatives will set up an epic clash in the GOP primary.
• Whoever emerges from the race will likely face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Former Sen. David Perdue will challenge Gov. Brian Kemp in Georgia's gubernatorial primary next year, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, setting up a blockbuster contest in one of the most politically-competitive states in the country.

Perdue, a businessman who had reportedly been prodded by former President Donald Trump to enter the race, will now go up against Kemp as the incumbent governor was gearing up to challenge Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, who last week announced her decision to run for the the position again after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018.

The former senator served in the upper chamber for one term before being ousted by Democrat Jon Ossoff in a Senate runoff election earlier this year.

Perdue's entry into the race reflects Trump's continued influence in the Republican Party, and the result of the primary will be one of the biggest indicators of whether his personal distate for Kemp will override the governor's otherwise solid conservative credentials among many rank-and-file GOP members.

Republicans are angling to hold on to the Governor's Mansion in a state that for years had been a conservative redoubt, but where Democrats have been ascendant due to the exponential growth of Atlanta's suburbs.

This post has been updated.

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