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Sen. Loeffler welcomes debate request from Dem opponent in GA runoffs

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Incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) appears to have accepted her opponent’s request to debate him before their January 5 runoff election for the U.S. Senate race. This comes as Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), the Peach State’s other incumbent senator who also faces a runoff election on the same day for his Senate seat, declined to debate his respective opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, according to CNN.

Monday evening, Loeffler appeared on the Fox News program ‘The Ingraham Angle’ and said that she would “welcome” another debate with her “radical” opponent, Reverend Raphael Warnock (D), before the runoff of their special election for the Senate.

“We had a debate,” Loeffler said. “I had the opportunity in that debate to show how radical his agenda is, and we are just getting started. So I welcome that opportunity to also show what I’ve done for Georgians since getting into the Senate in January.”

“I’ve hit the ground running, delivered for Georgians during the pandemic to bring relief, and also holding people accountable, like Raphael Warnock for their comments supporting folks like Fidel Castro, inviting them into his church [while] at the same time criticizing police officers,” Loeffler continued.

“Georgians need to know who he is,” she added, “and I welcome the chance to debate him as many times as he wants.”

The twin runoff elections for Georgia’s two Senate seats will determine which political party controls the Senate for the next two years.

Ossoff had said that six media outlets invited him to debate Perdue, which Ossoff accepted, and then publicly called on Perdue to accept the challenge to debate him at the Atlanta Press Club on December 6.

Because none of the candidates in either Senate race got more than 50% of the vote, state law requires that a runoff election is held between the two highest vote-getters in each race.

In a statement, Perdue’s campaign manager Ben Fry said that there had already been two debates before people first voted on November 3 and that Ossoff can pay for himself to be on television.

“In each (debate), Ossoff lied repeatedly,” he said.

“If Ossoff wants to keep lying to Georgians on TV,” Fry added, “he will have to use his out-of-state money to pay for it.”

Both Ossoff and Warnock appeared together at an event on Sunday in Marietta, Georgia. There, Ossoff called on Perdue to debate him, saying, “Imagine being a sitting U.S. Senator, too much of a coward to debate your opponent in public.”

Ossoff also said that “we will proceed with the debate and Sen. Perdue will be represented by an empty podium.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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RFK Jr. announces lifelong Democrat, advocate of left-leaning causes, CA native as running mate

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced Tuesday that attorney and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan will be his vice presidential running mate in the upcoming election. The Independent candidate announced his choice for the 38-year-old Oakland, California native by praising her insight into “how Big Tech uses AI to manipulate the public,” her athletic ability, and willingness to be a “partner” in a number of policy areas, including on securing the border.

Fox News writes that Shanahan is a philanthropist with a long history of donating to Democrat and left-leaning causes, including supporting President Biden in his 2020 election bid before switching to Kennedy when he launched his own run for the Democrat nomination last year.

She is the founder and president of Bia-Echo Foundation, a private firm that describes its mission as focused on “new frontiers in reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy & livable planet.”

Fox News reports Shanahan initially dropped her support for Kennedy after he decided to run as an independent, but later got behind him again by giving $4 million to the super PAC that boosted his candidacy with a John F. Kennedy-themed campaign ad that ran during the Super Bowl in February.

Shanahan also previously donated to Democrat presidential candidates Marianne Williamson and Pete Buttigieg during the 2020 presidential race, and threw more than $150,000 behind progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s 2020 election bid.

Shanahan, a life-long Democrat, told the crowd that she was leaving the party.

“The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of compassion. It is supposed to be the party of free speech, and most importantly, the party of the middle class and the American dream,” Shanahan said.

“While I know many Democrats still abide by those values…I do believe they’ve lost their way in their leadership,” she continued.

And she urged “disillusioned” Democrats and Republicans to support Kennedy’s independent White House bid.

 

 

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