Sen. Kelly Loeffler says Gwinnett is ‘incredibly important’ to Republicans during stop at Briscoe Field
Staff Photo: Curt Yeomans
By Curt Yeomans
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With a day to go before the special election for her seat, U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler said Gwinnett County is just as vital to Republicans as Democrats have touted it as being for their party.
“Gwinnett is incredibly important,” Loeffler said. “There’s tremendous growth here. There’s tremendous opportunity, and that’s why Georgia’s the No. 1 state to do business.”
Loeffler flew into Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville on Monday for a brief meeting with reporters as part of a statewide Fly-Around tour of Georgia.
She is not the only Republican candidate in the Senate special election paying Gwinnett County a visit on Monday, however. Her main GOP rival in the race, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, is scheduled to hold a rally with Roger Stone, an ally of President Donald Trump, in Buford on Monday afternoon.
Loeffler and Collins are vying to see who will likely face Rev. Raphael Warnock, the leading Democrat in the 21-candidate field, in an expected run-off in January.
“Congressman Collins has to answer for his record of partnering with liberals hundreds of times” as a state legislator and congressman, Loeffler said.
In addition to criticizing Collins, the senator also dismissed the idea that Warnock posed a threat to her re-election.
“Warnock’s not going to win,” she said. “Not only is Warnock not going to win, but I’m going to win this because I am the conservative champion for Georgia. That’s why Gov. (Brian) Kemp appointed me.”
As the final hours before election day ticked away, Loeffler said her main final message to voters was to go out and vote.
“It’s vitally important to stand up for our strong conservative values that have made Georgia the No. 1 state in the country to do business,” she said. “We don’t need higher taxes. We need people who work in business, people who are outsiders fighting for Georgians in Washington.”
Part of Loeffler’s pitch is her support of Trump, touting herself as the “true conservative” in the race, and hitting on themes that have been commonly used by Republicans in recent years, such touting themselves as an outsider while attacking “the swamp,” “fake news” and “career politicians.”
But, Loeffler also highlighted her business background as she talked about Georgia’s business climate.
“We need more business people in Washington who know how to create jobs,” Loeffler said. “I went from being a job seeker, someone who lived paycheck to paycheck to being a job creator right here in Georgia. I’m going to fight right alongside President Trump to make sure that we can reopen our economy to protect the American dream that lifts all Americans up and that’s what I want for every single Georgian.”
Loeffler says she doesn’t know anything about incident involving Trump supporters and Biden bus in Texas
In recent days, one of the new stories to come out of the presidential race was an incident in Texas where a group of motorists with Trump flags on their car surrounded a Joe Biden campaign bus on Friday and reportedly began harassing it and the entourage accompanying it.
The incident made headlines over the weekend as video of the incident went viral on social media. The FBI announced on Monday that it is investigating the incident.
When asked about that incident during her stop in Lawrenceville, Loeffler said she wasn’t familiar with it and instead talked about the need for voters to support Republicans on the ballot.
“I don’t know anything about it, so I would just say that the most important that we have to do in this election is turn out the vote so that every American has a voice,” Loeffler said. “I’m encouraging every Georgian to get out and vote for me, vote for the president and make sure we’re standing up for freedom and opportunity this country can offer because we can’t have socialism coming in and that’s what the Democrats want to bring right here to Georgia.”
