Party leaders worry a divided Georgia GOP next year could hand Democrats the governor’s mansion and help them keep a Senate seat in a year when Republicans should do well. And the former President’s quasi-endorsement of Abrams reveals the diffidence among party leaders about how to proceed.

“I think the most notable part is the quiet of everyone in the GOP in Georgia,” said Erick Erickson, an Atlanta-based talk radio host. “No one agrees with him. No one is endorsing it. But no one is vocally pushing back, either.”…

“I do not see how the governor can unite the party without reconciling with the former President,” said one longtime Georgia Republican operative. “This is not a question of fairness. It is a question of reality. Kemp needs the party united in 2022.”

But other Republicans in Georgia say demanding total loyalty is a risky proposition for a decidedly purple state that Trump lost in 2020. And the stakes for the GOP are high, with the US Senate race in Georgia potentially determining which party holds the majority after next fall’s midterms.