GOP candidate rebounds from Senate loss with new super PAC, will aid in Georgia runoffs

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Fresh off a Senate campaign that fell short to an established Democratic incumbent, retired Lt. Col. Daniel Gade is rebounding with a new PAC aimed at promoting veterans’ issues and conservative candidates – with an immediate eye on the Georgia runoff races.

“We’re not stuck on only picking veteran candidates, but we’re stuck on picking conservative candidates who are gonna fight for our values,” he told Fox News Thursday.

Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are headed for runoff elections with Democratic candidates Jon Ossof and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, respectively. And those seats will determine which party controls the Senate when President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month.

Vice President Mike Pence, center, Senator Kelly Loeffler, left, and Senator David Perdue, right, wave at individuals at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga., Nov. 20. (Alyssa Pointer /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

“I think that they’re clearly better than the leftists that they’re running against,” Gade said of the pair of incumbents.

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Gade also is encouraging other veterans to get politically involved, whether as candidates or by turning out to vote.

“Veterans have a tendency to decide they don’t want to vote,” he said. “My point to the 640,000 veterans in Georgia is, if you want to keep your country safe again like you did in the past, it’s time to vote. And it’s time to vote for candidates who will fight for your values -- and that means, in this case, the Republicans.”

Former GOP Senate candidate Dr. Daniel Gade, an Army veteran, launched a new political action committee this week to promote conservative candidates and raise awareness for veterans issues and foreign policy. (Gade For Virginia)

He said he founded the New Mission PAC because less than a quarter of Congress members are veterans, and the number is declining over time. And he said veterans make good political leaders because they tend to focus on service and integrity.

“They tend to be trustworthy, they love America, they are willing to serve, they’re willing to sacrifice, and that’s what we need from our political leaders,” he said.

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Even before launching the PAC, the former Senate candidate, who lost his leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq, served on advisory committees dedicated to veterans and disabled Americans under multiple presidents.

Donations are coming in, Gade said, and with a month until the Jan. 5 runoff, the amount he raises can impact how much ground the new PAC can cover.

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New Mission follows Gade’s loss in a longshot Senate campaign, which he said received little support from national conservative groups. His New Mission PAC aims to fill that void.

“What we can do is, we can support our conservative candidates better if we don’t have the old broken systems being the ones that are doing the supporting,” he said. “This is a grassroots effort to help grassroots conservative candidates, not an establishment effort to help establishment candidates.”