Former CEO David Perdue secured the Republican nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat in Georgia in a tight runoff election against Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA).
With 92.8 percent of the vote counted, the Associated Press called the race for Perdue, who had 50.7 percent of the vote compared with Kingston’s 49.3 percent.
The candidate had a tough fight in a crowded field, and had to fend off criticism earlier in the race after he pointed out that a fellow candidate in the primary, Karen Handel, didn’t have a college degree. He also had to correct the record when his Kingston alleged that Perdue said he was open to raising taxes. Perdue said the claim was “the most outrageous” of “all the deceitful and false accusations that have been coming my way.”
Perdue will face Democratic candidate Michelle Nunn in the general election.
