David Perdue was a star in the Georgia Republican Party.
After winning his first Senate race on the strength of his appeal as a political outsider, he became one of Donald Trump's most loyal legislative allies. The last two years have seen a huge change in the fortunes of the former senator.
Perdue was encouraged by Trump to run in a GOP primary for governor against Brian Kemp.
Republican primary voters would be excited about kicking the governor to the curb if Trump were to win the presidency.
Kemp has used his bully pulpit as governor to push through conservative measures in the legislature and is expected to win the GOP primary tomorrow.
Gingrich told The New York Times that the dynamics of the race have not been altered by Trump's influence.
Perdue thought that Trump was a magic wand, he told the newspaper.
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 considering the race.
She said that he showed her his phone and said that he had been called by the president.
According to The Times, Zoller was one of several aides who told Perdue not to run.
Perdue didn't schedule any ads for the final week of the race despite the former president's goodwill among Republican voters in the state.
Perdue is making the argument that Kemp won't be able to rebuild the coalition that led to statewide Republican victories.
As Insider reported this weekend, Perdue and his allies are warning that Kemp would be vulnerable to the Democrats.
Perdue said at a rally in Augusta that he was concerned that he would have a hard time pulling the party together.
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