A new Atlanta Journal Constitution poll finds Sen. David Perdue (R) is essentially tied with Jon Ossoff (D), with the Republican incumbent at 45% and his challenger at 46%. About 4% back Libertarian Shane Hazel, and 5% are undecided. The close margins raise the possibility the race could head into a January runoff.

“Another round of voting is almost certain in the special election for U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat, where the 21-candidate race makes it extremely difficult for anyone to win the majority-vote necessary to avoid the runoff.”

“Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) inadvertently sparked a movement that benefited his rival’s campaign when he mocked the pronunciation of Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ name,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“But the repeated mispronunciation, which his campaign claimed was not purposeful, competed for media attention with Trump’s remarks in Georgia and led to searing criticism on the airwaves and the campaign trail.”

“By Sunday evening, Democrat Jon Ossoff said he raised more than $1.8 million from at least 42,000 donors from Perdue’s viral moment.”

CNN: “It’s a scenario that GOP leaders have been privately fearing for months — and one they had sought to avoid at the beginning of the year. In private, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had counseled his top lieutenants and even President Trump to ensure the party would unite behind one candidate and avoid a messy internecine battle that could imperil the crucial Senate seat.”

“The race presents challenges unlike any other in the country. Since it’s a special election, there is no primary. So to win the November election outright, a candidate must surpass 50% of the vote; if not, the top two candidates face off in a January runoff. Since it’s unlikely that any candidate will reach the 50 percent threshold, both [Rep. Doug] Collins and [Sen. Kelly] Loeffler have been competing intensely to make the runoff by wooing Republican voters and appealing to the conservative base, which represents a slice of the state’s 6.9 million registered voters.”

“That has created an opening for the leading Democratic candidate, Rev. Raphael Warnock, who has been mostly unscathed amid the daily slugfest between Collins and Loeffler, and was rewarded with a Friday fundraiser led by former President Barack Obama.”

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) mocked Sen. Kamala Harris’ name as “Kamala-mala-mala-whatever” at a rally for President Trump.

They have served together in the U.S. Senate for nearly four years, so he knows how to properly pronounce her name.

Politico: “Mispronouncing Harris’ first name has become a common attack within the Trump camp. The president routinely does so in a mocking way during his political rallies, even though he has correctly said it in less rowdy settings.”

More than $151 million has been spent so far on TV and radio ads in the twin U.S. Senate races in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) endorsed Doug Collins’ (R) bid for U.S. Senate, making him the most prominent state Republican to support the four-term congressman’s challenge to Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in a nasty fight that has divided the Georgia GOP, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“Barack Obama endorsed Raphael Warnock’s (D) U.S. Senate campaign, becoming the latest Democrat to rally behind the pastor’s challenge to Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) as pressure mounts on his rivals to drop out of the free-for-all race,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“The development comes as Warnock aims to consolidate Democrats behind his campaign – and his allies urge Matt Lieberman (D), another Democrat in the contest, to abandon his bid.”

After Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) compared herself to “Attilla the Hun” in a new ad, her leading Republican opponent, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), put out a fact sheet and launched a new website.

With Sen. David Perdue’s (R-GA) re-election chances teetering on a knife’s edge, the Republican is talking more about himself as a ‘bipartisan problem solver’ — and less about his reputation as one of President Trump’s most loyal allies, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“Being one of Trump’s most loyal allies in the U.S. Senate might have helped him avoid a primary challenger in June. But to win in November, Perdue is trying to cast himself as a consensus builder who will defend capitalism.”

Georgia Senate candidate Matt Lieberman (D) “wrote and self-published a deeply bizarre novel in 2018, featuring a main character who believes that for most of his life he owned an imaginary slave who could communicate with plants and animals,” the HuffPost reports.

Lieberman, son of former Sen. Joe Lieberman, is running in the all-party special election to replace Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), who retired in 2018.

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) deleted a Facebook ad targeting his Jewish election opponent, Jon Ossoff (D), that appeared to have been altered to make Ossoff’s nose bigger, the Forward reports.

Jon Ossoff (D), who appeared to be headed towards a runoff most of the day Wednesday, now seems to have clinched an outright win in Georgia’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, the AP reports.

Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Jon Ossoff built a commanding lead in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as polls began to close after a day of voting marred by long lines and faulty equipment, but it was not yet clear whether he would face a runoff.”

Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Georgia required some “logistics somersaults” to accommodate the tensions between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Loeffler flew with Pence to Georgia and “was invited to board the plane by top Trump aide Mark Meadows, who counts several of his former staffers in Loeffler’s office. That led Pence’s aides to ask Collins to join the greeting party—and ride with Pence back to Dobbins on the return trip. … Both got roughly 30 minutes of face time with the Veep.”

President Trump’s advisers are increasingly concerned about Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s (R-GA) campaign in Georgia, a newly competitive state where the president’s own poll numbers have tightened against Joe Biden, the New York Times reports.

“Because the field is so crowded, Georgia officials expect no candidate to get a majority, forcing a runoff. And the president’s team is planning to stay out of the race until the runoff approaches, which wouldn’t be until January 2021.”

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) will reserve about $4 million worth of airtime for a trio of new ads pushing back on criticism about her stock transactions during the coronavirus pandemic, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

The ads label the scrutiny from opponents, including Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), as “liberal lies” and claim she’s “unfairly targeted all because she’s a strong conservative woman.”

“Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican up for reelection and a close Trump confidant, issued a blunt warning to GOP activists during an off-the-record conference call this week: Democrats are in position to turn his state blue and take the Senate,” CNN reports

Said Perdue: “Here’s the reality: The state of Georgia is in play.”

“The stark warning from a GOP senator — who is not considered among the most vulnerable Republicans this election cycle — illustrates the fear among Republicans that Democrats’ chances of taking back the Senate continue to grow.”