Businessman David Perdue defeated Rep. Jack Kingston in the Georgia Republican primary runoff election for Senate, and Republican strategist Matt Towery says Perdue's outsider status definitely helped but he won because he got evangelical voters to the polls.
"Yes, the
outsider sort of storyline sold to enough voters — that is definitely true," Towery told J.D. Hayworth, John Bachman and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
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"Secondly, Purdue ran a very smart campaign of bringing voters out to the polls," he added.
"In this instance, Perdue went for the evangelical voters — through some robocalls and other efforts," Towery explained. "He had church organizations calling their various congregations to turn out to vote.
"Whenever you look at a runoff or a state house seat or a congressional seat that had a candidate that was viewed as more of an evangelical-type candidate, their numbers, in terms of percentage, virtually mirror those of David Perdue," said Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantageGeorgia.
"That is sort of the secret story of how Perdue managed to get above Jack Kingston," he added.
"Perdue ran a very smart race in terms of getting his voters to the polls in a very, very low turnout."
There's a larger lesson for GOP in general, Towery said, that "Republicans need to be a little bit concerned that our voters may be taking [elections] a bit too complacent."
He explained that there is a "general assumption among Republicans and Independents who" lean right "that somehow it's a fait accompli that Republicans will do well in their state.
"Unless the Republicans learn how to turn voters out, literally house by house using social media like the Obama campaign did last time, we can see some big shocks, particularly right here in Georgia," Towery added.
"The Democrats have not had that problem," the GOP strategist explained. "Ever since we saw [President Barack] Obama run in 2008, they've learned how to pinpoint the individual issue or the individual to get that individual out to vote."
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