Newt Gingrich says Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate David Perdue thought Trump was 'a magic wand' in the race against Brian Kemp

• Gingrich told the NYT that Perdue thought Trump was "a magic wand" in the Georgia gubernatorial race.
• Perdue entered the race last December with the blessing of Trump, who is displeased with Brian Kemp.

Former Sen. David Perdue was once one of the brightest stars in the Georgia Republican Party.

After easily winning his first Senate race in 2014 on the strength of his appeal as a political outsider, he became one of former President Donald Trump's staunchest legislative allies. But the last two years have seen a huge change in fortunes for the former Peach State senator.

Perdue lost a runoff election to now-Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff last year, and after being encouraged by Trump to run in a GOP gubernatorial primary against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, he formally entered the race last December.

Trump, still incensed that Kemp did not help him overturn now-President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential win in the state, thought that Republican primary voters would be amped up about kicking the governor to the curb.

However, things have not worked out as planned for Trump or Perdue, as Kemp has effectively used his bully pulpit as governor to push through conservative measures in the legislature and is expected to win the GOP primary tomorrow.

Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is backing Perdue in the primary, recently told The New York Times that Trump's influence — while still very strong among Republicans — has not overridden the dynamics of the race to favor the former senator.

"Perdue thought that Trump was a magic wand," he told the newspaper. "In retrospect, it's hard to understand David's campaign, and it's certainly not the campaign those of us who were for him expected."

Martha Zoller, an ex-Perdue aide and current radio host, told The Times that Perdue spoke of his close connection to the former president when he was still mulling over the race.

"He said Trump called him all the time," she said. "He showed me on his phone these multiple recent calls and said they were from the president."

Zoller, according to The Times, was one of several aides who told Perdue not to enter the race, but the former senator eventually followed Trump's advice.

Despite the former president's goodwill among Republican voters in the state, Perdue didn't schedule any ads for the final week of the race and has lagged in polling far behind Kemp.

At his remaining campaign appearances, Perdue is making the argument that Kemp won't be able to rebuild the MAGA coalition that led to statewide Republican victories in 2018.

And as Insider's Warren Rojas reported this weekend, Perdue and his allies are warning that Kemp would be vulnerable to the all-but-assured Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Stacey Abrams.

"He has divided the party," Perdue said at a rally in Augusta this past weekend. "So I'm very concerned that he's gonna have a hard time pulling us together again in November."