11Alive finds Perdue has been largely absent from the campaign trail and inaccessible to his own constituents
One of Perdue’s constituents has been unable to meet with Perdue for over three years
11Alive notes Perdue does not advise his events in advance to reporters or the public
Atlanta, Ga. — A scathing new report from 11Alive’s Doug Richards in Atlanta finds Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) has been continually ducking his constituents and the media for the past several years.
Richards outlines how Perdue fails to advise his in-state events for members of the press and ducks interview requests from local outlets, and how Perdue fails to be accessible to his constituents. Richards interviews one constituent who has been trying to meet with Perdue for over three years to no avail.
This is one of several recent media reports addressing how Perdue hides from the press and the taxpayers who pay his salary.
A few weeks ago, CBS46’s Rick Folbaum reported that Perdue often ignores reporter requests for interviews and hasn’t held a public town hall since taking office in 2015, but he will join events for business groups who write big checks to his re-election campaign. Folbaum outlined how Perdue recently spoke behind closed doors to two groups that had each contributed $10,000 in PAC checks to his campaigns.
And the Marietta Daily Journal also reported last month that after being invited to cover one of Perdue’s in-state events, they “got blanked,” were “barred,” and were “ushered away.”
Unlike Perdue, Ossoff is running an open and accessible statewide campaign, having already held and attended over 120 town hall meetings, forums, and public events across Georgia, both in-person and virtually, since launching his campaign last year, and he is taking his campaign straight to the people and presenting his unifying message of ensuring every Georgian has health care, taking on the corrupt campaign finance system, and providing economic opportunity.
More from 11Alive Doug Richard’s report on Perdue’s absence:
Sen. David Perdue’s stealth campaign: Georgia’s Republican Senator is visible on TV – but not in public
11Alive Atlanta // Doug Richards
- When he ran for the US Senate six years ago, David Perdue was a visible challenger – in TV advertising and out on the campaign trail. This year, so far, he seems to be letting his advertising do most of the talking.
- Sen. Perdue’s office says the senator spent August traveling around the state. Press releases document Perdue’s visits with photos sent out after his events have concluded. Perdue rarely sends out a schedule in advance.
- When he has – as for a DeKalb County event in April 2017 – he sometimes draws noisy protesters. In fact, Caroline Stover is among those who regularly protest outside Perdue’s office in Buckhead, where they typically seek meetings with the senator. “I don’t know anyone who has had face-to-face time with Sen. Perdue,” Stover said. “It’s been three-and-a-half years.”
- Shortly into Donald Trump’s presidency, Perdue became an outspoken supporterof the president’s policies. In February 2017, 11Alive News asked him about his constituent interactions. “Well, I do it differently. I engage individually and in small groups. And I do a lot of that in this state,” adding that he prefers that to larger town hall meetings. Perdue has held no public town hall meetings in Georgia since then.
- “I can understand why he’d not want to be around chanting people,” Stover said. But “if he’s afraid of controversy, then he shouldn’t be our representative in Washington, DC.”
- Perdue continues to be a regular on national cable news shows, particularly on Fox News.
- His office didn’t respond to our request for comment on this story.
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