David Perdue

"Senator Perdue" redirects here. For other uses, see Senator Perdue (disambiguation).

David Perdue
Official portrait, 2016
United States Senator
from Georgia
In office
January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2021
Preceded bySaxby Chambliss
Succeeded byJon Ossoff
Personal details
Born
David Alfred Perdue Jr.

(1949-12-10) December 10, 1949 (age 74)
Macon, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Bonnie Dunn
​
(m. 1972)​
Children3
RelativesSonny Perdue (cousin)
Residence(s)Sea Island, Georgia, U.S.
EducationGeorgia Institute of Technology (BS, MS)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • businessman
David Perdue's voice
David Perdue speaks on government overspending
Recorded October 31, 2017

David Alfred Perdue Jr. (/pərˈduː/; born December 10, 1949) is an American politician and business executive who served as a United States senator from Georgia from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Perdue was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Georgia in 2022.

After 12 years as a management consultant, Perdue became the senior vice president for Reebok, eventually becoming CEO. He later joined PillowTex, a North Carolina textile company; the company went bankrupt and folded shortly after his departure in 2003.[1][2] He subsequently became CEO of Dollar General.

Perdue first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. senator Sam Nunn. Perdue ran for reelection in 2020, losing to Democrat Jon Ossoff, a former investigative journalist and filmmaker, in a January 5, 2021, runoff election.[3] After the November 2020 presidential election, Perdue called for the resignation of Georgia's top elections official and claimed that there were unspecified "failures" in the election.[4] He later supported a lawsuit by Trump allies seeking to overturn the election results,[5] and falsely claimed during his 2022 gubernatorial election campaign that his 2020 Senate election was "stolen."[6][7][8]

Perdue was linked to the 2020 congressional insider trading scandal for allegations of STOCK Act violations. The basis was stocks he sold before the 2020 stock market crash allegedly using knowledge from a closed Senate meeting.[9] The U.S. Department of Justice closed its inquiry in mid-2020 without bringing charges.[10][11]

Perdue sought the Republican nomination in the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Brian Kemp, and was endorsed by former president Donald Trump.[12] Perdue lost the primary to Kemp in a landslide.

  1. ^ Hunt, April (July 16, 2014). "Perdue mismanaged Pillowtex, and nearly 8,000 people got laid off". PolitiFact. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Street". July 30, 2003. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. ^ Caroline Kelly (January 8, 2021). "David Perdue concedes Georgia Senate race to Jon Ossoff". CNN.
  4. ^ Niesse, Mark; Bluestein, Greg (November 9, 2020). "Citing no evidence, Georgia's U.S. senators demand elections head resign". ajc. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  5. ^ Bluestein, Greg (December 9, 2020). "Trump warns Georgia AG not to rally other Republicans against Texas lawsuit". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Reimann, Nicholas (March 27, 2022). "'Lock Him Up' Chants Break Out At Trump Rally As Perdue Falsely Blames Georgia Gov. Kemp For Voter Fraud". Forbes. Retrieved April 25, 2022. Perdue parroted the ex-president's longstanding false claims that widespread fraud robbed Trump of a win in the 2020 presidential election
  7. ^ Dale, Daniel (April 21, 2022). "Fact Check: New David Perdue TV Ad Tells Two Election Lies at Once". CNN. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  8. ^ "Perdue welcomes Trump to Georgia by embracing 'stolen' election lie". ajc. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  9. ^ Sheth, Sonam (April 7, 2020). "Sen. He bought stock in a company that produces protective medical equipment the same day senators received a classified briefing on the coronavirus". Business Insider. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference skip was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Kertscher, Tom (December 4, 2020). "A 'crook'? 'Totally exonerated'? Misleading claims about Ga. Sen. David Perdue and his stock trades". PolitiFact. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Caputo, Mark (December 5, 2021). "Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue will announce primary bid against Georgia governor this week". POLITICO. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.