Georgia Republican Gov Candidate Pledges to Erect ‘Red Wall’

Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp on Tuesday promised to blunt a “blue wave” with a “red wall” around his state and blasted his Democratic opponent for comments that seemed to endorse voter fraud.

Kemp, the current Georgia secretary of state, has been locked in a tight race with Democrat Stacey Abrams. The three most recent polls have shown Kemp in the lead with the same margin of 2 percentage points.

The GOP nominee has seized on comments by Abrams (pictured above left) at a rally last week in which she said the blue wave is “comprised of those who are documented and undocumented.”

Abrams on Monday denied encouraging anyone to vote illegally.

“I’ve never once argued for anyone who is not legally allowed to vote in the state of Georgia to be allowed to vote,” she told reporters while campaigning.

“We are gonna put a red wall up around the state of Georgia to say ‘no’ to this, you know, socialist behavior from my radical opponent.”

Kemp (pictured above right), appearing on Fox News’ “The Laura Ingraham Show,” made clear he does not buy Abrams’ denial.

“Well, she wants them to vote in our elections to help their blue wave,” he said. “I know exactly what she wants.”

Kemp noted that civil rights groups last week filed a lawsuit accusing him of seeking to disenfranchise more than 50,000 voters — 80 percent of them black — by suspending those whose registrations do not match their identification.

“That is outrageous, Laura,” Kemp said. “We are gonna put a red wall up around the state of Georgia to say ‘no’ to this, you know, socialist behavior from my radical opponent.”

Kemp said the disenfranchisement complaints are same ones liberals trotted out in 2014 and 2016. He said that as secretary of state, he has presided over an increase of 8,000 registered voters. But he added that it is his duty to ensure that everyone who registered to vote legally is eligible to vote.

“I am following the state law that we have in Georgia for our verification process,” he said. “Because we believe that we should — and I support this — that we should verify who individuals are before we register them to vote. That’s why we have a citizenship test.”

Winning the Georgia governor’s office would be a significant milestone for the Left in its attempts to dent Republican dominance in the Deep South.

Related: Ga. Gov Candidate Cheers Illegals Voting in Democrats’ ‘Blue Wave’

Abrams would be the Peach State’s first Democratic governor in two decades and likely its most liberal chief executive ever. She has pledged to expand the state’s Medicaid program for the poor, favors gun restrictions, and supports more tax-funded spending on housing programs, “green” energy and education. She also opposes the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which many progressives see as an attack on gay rights.

Kemp said he is starting to sense a shift in momentum with Election Day now less than three weeks away. Monday’s first day of early voting brought 69,049 people to the polls, up from 20,898 on the first day of early voting in 2014.

Kemp said he was encouraged by Monday’s turnout.

“They’re waking up now,” he said. “That’s one of the things that’s concerned us, is that our base wasn’t as motivated as the Democrats were. But with the [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh confirmation and statements like these, people are finally realizing the real Stacey Abrams.”

Kemp said he is in a battle “for the soul of our state.” He noted that out-of-state campaign contributions have flooded into Georgia on behalf of Abrams and asked for help.

“We are literally, as you said, fighting the rest of the country,” he said.