Sen. David Perdue tested negative for coronavirus and will continue work on his campaign in Georgia.
Georgia senator still working on campaign
Sen. David Perdue, who is in quarantine with his wife after coming into close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19, said Friday he and his wife have tested negative and they will continue participating in the events leading up to next week’s runoff elections in Georgia as if he were there in person.
“It’s terrible timing, but we are not going to miss a step,” the Georgia Republican told Fox News on Friday afternoon. “This is just part of the year we’ve been in.”
President Donald Trump will hold a rally Monday for Perdue and GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who will face off against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively, the day after in runoff races that could determine partisan control of the Senate.
In late November, Loeffler went into self-quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. Her campaign said she developed no symptoms, and she resumed campaigning after later tests came back negative.
New polls are showing the Democrats ahead, based on the nearly 2.8 million early ballots that have been cast in the race, and when asked if he thinks the election will be fair, Perdue replied that it will be a “tight election.”
“I’ve never believed in these polls,” he said. “They had me down eight to 10 points and we won by two. As a matter of fact, 52.5 percent voted against the Democratic agenda and Jon Ossoff in my race (in November).”
However, he said changes are needed in Georgia’s election system, which has come under fire by Trump after the presidential election.
“We have a double standard (on) signature verification, and there have been vagaries around that,” Perdue said.