GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler hits the panic button as she falls severely behind in reelection bid

When the Republican Governor of Georgia appointed Kelly Loeffler to fill a U.S. Senate seat as a political favor, it was never clear if she’d be able to survive the special election she’d end up facing. Even setting aside what will be a tough general election race against a Democrat in what could be another blue wave, she has a tough Republican primary challenge against Trump stooge Doug Collins.

When it was revealed that Kelly Loeffler was one of a handful of Republican Senators who dumped their stocks after a private congressional briefing about the extent of the coronavirus crisis, her poll numbers against Collins nosedived. Earlier this week it was reported that internal polls showed Loeffler being a stunning 44 points behind Collins in the primary race. Now she’s hitting the panic button.

Loeffler is now recusing herself from a Senate subcommittee on “commodities, risk management and trade” in a last ditch effort to show voters in Georgia that, no really, she’s honest after all. Spoiler alert: this won’t work. Loeffler has five weeks to somehow turn this around and make up a 44 point deficit, or else Doug Collins will be the Republican nominee, and Loeffler’s Senate career will end just months after it began.