ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston and former Dollar General CEO David Perdue have advanced to a Republican runoff in Georgia’s hotly contested Senate race, which will eventually help determine which party controls Congress.
In unofficial returns Tuesday, Perdue had more than 30 percent of the vote to Kingston’s nearly 26 percent.
The two will meet in a July 22 runoff, with Kingston drawing on his establishment support and the backing of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to fight off the “outsider” campaign of Perdue, the cousin of former Gov. Sonny Perdue. Neither has the support of the state’s tea party crowd, which saw its best hope fade with former Secretary of State Karen Handel.
The race is among a dozen being watched nationally, as Republicans need to gain just six seats to claim a Senate majority.
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