Loeffler Loses GOP Support, “Fighting For Her Political Life”

Georgia GOP Congressman Endorses Collins, Citing “Distractions And Uncertainty” Stemming From Loeffler’s Stock Trade Scandal

Another rough start to a new week for unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler: Republican Congressman Drew Ferguson decided to “break ranks with Gov. Brian Kemp and his hand-picked selection” Loeffler and endorse Trump loyalist Doug Collins as NPR reports Loeffler is “fighting for her political life” in the wake of her ongoing stock trade scandal. 

Congressman Ferguson is just the latest Republican to abandon Senator Loeffler as it becomes clear her scandal is a “major political liability” for her and down ballot Republicans. Over the weekend, the chairman of a pro-Trump super PAC and former Ronald Reagan campaign manager penned an op-ed in the Augusta Chronicle urging Georgia voters to “root out Loeffler’s corruption” by voting for Collins in November. Loeffler’s scandal is so toxic that even Majority Leader Mitch McConnell initially declined to say whether he still supports her and was later forced to clarify through a spokesperson. Spending from deep-pocketed Washington conservative groups has also dried up as Loeffler struggles to defend her and her husband’s “unseemly” trades.

After she and her husband dumped millions in stock following a closed-door Senate briefing on the coronavirus pandemic and invested in “companies that have benefited in the pandemic” — including a firm that “makes COVID-19 protective garments” and a teleworking software provider — Loeffler attempted to sweep her spiraling stock scandal under the rug by pulling a weak PR stunt last week. She still refuses to explain the nature of the arrangement with her portfolio managers and whether she’s ever shared information with them or directed transactions. 

“Senator Loeffler is trying to sweep her stock scandal under the rug but the damage is done and Republicans are abandoning her campaign,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “She’s said she’s done nothing wrong but still won’t explain to Georgians what deal she made with her financial brokers and whether she ever shared information with them that directed stock transactions.”

NPR: Stock Trades After Coronavirus Briefing Complicate Loeffler’s Reelection Bid

By Claudia Grisales

Key Points:

• A new U.S. senator from Georgia has come under fire for selling $20 million in stock after a briefing in the weeks building up to the coronavirus pandemic.

• Republican Kelly Loeffler was appointed to her seat against President Trump’s wishes. Now, just three months into the appointment, Loeffler is fighting for her political life ahead of elections in November.

• Trump and his allies had lobbied heavily for U.S. Rep. Doug Collins to get the vacant seat, but Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler.

• Just a few months later, that trust and support hang in the balance. Loeffler is part of a group of senators — both Democrat and Republican — whose recent stock transactions are under new scrutiny.

• Loeffler and her husband, who is the CEO of a company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, dumped millions of dollars in shares after she attended a closed-door Senate briefing on the coronavirus in January. The couple also picked up investments in companies that have benefited in the pandemic.

• Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie says the timing couldn’t be worse for the senator.

• “And so the stories that have come out about her stock trades, you know, are things that put her on the defensive at a time where she’s trying to introduce herself and where she’s trying to have a honeymoon period,” Gillespie said.

• But the developments have given opponents like Collins, who is running against her, as well as her Democratic rivals new ammunition against her.

• The stakes couldn’t be higher. Experts say Georgia could be a key state later this year when the elections determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the Senate.

• “This is a place that was once a Republican stronghold that now has become incredibly competitive,” said Emory’s Gillespie, of the state.

• For Loeffler, that means the coming weeks and months will be critical for her and her party’s political fortunes.

Read the full story here.

###