Young member of Sen. Kelly Loeffler's campaign staff dies in car wreck

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A young field staffer working on Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign has died in a car crash.

Loeffler identified the victim as Harrison Deal in a statement Friday. He also had ties to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Sen. David Perdue.

“My heart aches for his family, and Jeff and I will continue to surround them in love and prayer in the days ahead,” she said. “Harrison was a beloved member of our campaign team. More importantly, Harrison was a smart, bright, loving, loyal and outstanding young man.”

Following the news, Loeffler returned to Atlanta and missed a campaign event that featured Vice President Mike Pence in Savannah.

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Sen. Perdue said the young man interned for him last summer and had expected to graduate from the University of Georgia in 2022.

"Harrison was a smart, kind young man with a bright future ahead of him, and he is gone too soon," he said. “We are praying for his parents, Curt and Jenni Deal, and his sisters, Hannah and Halli. I ask the people of Georgia to join us in keeping the entire Deal family in their hearts on this terrible day.” 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also missed the rally. Kemp spokesman Cody Hall tweeted that Georgia’s governor and first lady had to cancel due to a family emergency. He did not offer any details.  

“Today, we lost a member of our ‘Kemp Strong’ family and words cannot express how much Harrison Deals’ life, love and support meant to us,” the governor’s family said in a statement. “He was a person of deep faith, unmatched integrity, and incredible kindness. Harrison was the Kemp son and brother we never had.”

The governor also tweeted a photo showing Deal along with his family standing between a pair of Christmas trees.

Pence, who appeared at the Savannah event, began his remarks by acknowledging the accident.

“Before I begin, I know we were all just informed that a young man on Sen. Loeffler's staff lost his life, in a fatal car accident this afternoon,” the vice president said. “Sen. Loeffler's on her way back to Atlanta to support that young man’s family and her staff. She goes with our prayers.”

The runoff elections will decide which party has control of the Senate after President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month.

Both parties have spent huge sums of money on campaign advertising in the pair of races. Between the parties, political action committees and the campaigns themselves, the race has cost more than $315 million so far, according to AdImpact, a leading ad tracking firm.

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Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.