Former President Donald Trump's political operation plans to spend heavily in Georgia's upcoming gubernatorial race — especially during primary season.
According to Politico, Trump's Save America PAC has transferred $500,000 to a super PAC devoted to defeating current Gov. Brian Kemp in Georgia's Republican primary May 24.
In Kemp's potential stead, Trump will reportedly throw his full support — along with a massive war chest of campaign funds — into the campaign of former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga.
And if Perdue should defeat Kemp in the Republican primary, he would likely face Democrat Stacey Abrams in the November gubernatorial general election.
"President Trump is committed to supporting his endorsed candidates across the nation, but we won't be telegraphing our efforts to the media," Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich recently said in a statement.
Four years ago, Trump and Kemp were apparently on good terms. During his initial bid for governor in the spring of 2018, Kemp even identified as a pro-Trump, America First candidate.
However, things soured after that between the politicians, especially when Kemp rejected the Trump campaign's request to call a legislative special session to review Georgia's results in the 2020 presidential election — thus angering Trump, the nation's 45th commander-in-chief.
President Joe Biden (49.5% of the vote) defeated Trump in Georgia's 2020 presidential race by a razor-thin margin of 0.2%.
According to Politico, billionaire Trump has helped stockpile more than $110 million for the midterm elections, making his PAC one of "the most well-funded organizations in politics."
Early in this midterm-election process, Trump has staged public rallies on behalf of favored candidates, while writing modest campaign checks, here and there.
However, the imminent Perdue-Kemp battle in the Republican primary represents the Trump PAC's first major spending opportunity.
According to RealClearPolitics, Gov. Kemp leads Perdue in five different primary polls, with an average advantage of 9.4 percentage points.
RCP tracking polls also have the eventual winner of Perdue vs. Kemp leading Democrat Stacey Abrams in hypothetical general election polls.
Despite the Save America PAC's backing, the incumbent Kemp still owns a decisive financial advantage over Perdue.
According to AdImpact, via Politico, Kemp and allied groups have spent or reserved $11.4 million worth of TV ads in Georgia, compared to just $2.7 million for the pro-Perdue army.
Trump acknowledges the uphill climb in unseating Kemp during a primary.
"It's always hard to beat a sitting governor," Trump acknowledged in a recent radio interview. "It's very hard to beat, because [incumbents] have a lot of money behind them. You know, everybody is giving them money.
"But we will see what happens."
The Save America staff might be keeping a momentary lid on Trump's investment plan for certain candidates.
However, there is one race that will surely attract the former president's full attention — and money: The specter of unseating Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a well-known Trump nemesis within the GOP ranks.
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