A group of Georgia's Republican state senators wrote a letter to Perdue not to run for governor.
Perdue, who served in the US Congress from 2015 to 2021, announced earlier this month that he is running for governor of Georgia in the Republican primary in 2022.
Perdue got the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who criticized Kemp for not doing more to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in his state, which President Joe Biden won.
25 of Georgia's 34 Republican state senators wrote to Perdue not to challenge the incumbent.
"We are asking you to support and endorse Governor Brian Kemp for reelection," the letter said. "Our GOP and state must come together to support our Governor with a positive message to keep Georgia conservative and moving forward."
The letter began by thanking Perdue for his service and said they hope he will run for the US Senate again.
The senators didn't send a digital copy because they didn't want it to be public.
Perdue confirmed to Insider that he received the letter to the website and said, "this is what career politicians do."
He told the outlet that endorsements among each other can elbow an outsider out of a race. People who vote don't care. Who cares about that? Career politicians.
The state senators thought the letter would sway him.
The two Georgia state senators who signed the letter, John Albers and Mike Dugan, denied that the group represented career politicians.
Perdue lost reelection to Jon Ossoff in January of 2021. He received the endorsement of Trump for governor.
Republican lawmakers are sticking by their colleagues that Trump dislikes. The Senate's GOP campaign arm said last month that it's backing Murkowski despite Trump's endorsement of Tshibaka.
Several Trump-backed challengers are struggling to raise money.
