Georgia Gang Panelist: Kemp, Perdue should look forward in next debates

ATLANTA - Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp and former U.S. Senator David Perdue squared off in their first debate ahead of the May 24th primary on Sunday.

"It was tense," said Martha Zoller, a Republican panelist on FOX 5's The Georgia Gang. "I think you could feel it. I could feel it through my television set."

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Zoller said the debate was the first time Kemp and Perdue were in the same room together since Perdue decided to challenge Kemp for the Republican nomination. She thought Perdue started out at an advantage because he drove the conversation to a topic he wanted to focus on--the 2020 election.

"He didn't back down from that. Gov. Kemp responded and it got pretty heated," said Zoller.

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Zoller said she thought Gov. Kemp was able to regain some control in the second half of the debate by talking about his successes in economic development.

Both Kemp and Perdue talked Monday about why they thought they performed well in the debate.

"I thought it was great, gave me an opportunity to talk about the record, which is what I'm going to continue to do," Gov. Kemp said. "You know, not surprising that Sen. Perdue was attacking me and my record 'cause he didn't have a record of his own to run on."

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"I think what was exposed last night is we have a governor who was embattled and who, I think, really showed the true colors of why he's a weak leader and why we need to make a change," said Perdue.

The two Republicans will face off again in debates Thursday in Savannah and Sunday in Atlanta. 

"What I'm looking for in the next debate--I'm looking for Sen. Perdue to show us beyond the election issues what he's going to do if he's elected governor and then for Gov. Kemp to talk about his successes as well as what he's going to do in his next term," said Zoller.