CAIRO — U.S. Senate candidate Kelvin King brought his campaign to Cairo on Friday morning, speaking at the Grady County Republican headquarters.

King, a Cobb County businessman, is running for the post occupied by Democrat Raphael Warnock, who won the seat by defeating Kelly Loeffler in a special election last year.

Loeffler had been appointed by Governor Brian Kemp in 2019 after Johnny Isakson resigned for health reasons.

King is one of three announced Republican candidates for the seat. Former Navy SEAL Latham Saddler and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black are the others.

Saddler spoke to the Grady County GOP last month.

Former president Donald Trump has encouraged ex-Georgia football player Herschel Walker to enter the race as a Republican as well.

The Republican primary is scheduled for May 24, 2022. The election is set for Nov. 8, 2022.

King was born in Macon and raised in Mableton, Ga. He is a graduate of the Air Force Academy. He served five years in Air Force as contracting officer and made rank of captain

After he left the Air Force, he worked as a general manager of an international construction company before leaving to start his own construction firm, Osprey Management.

“My platform is that we have to have the right economic conditions, the right security conditions  and the Constitution should guide us through all that we do,” King said. “What I mean by the right economic conditions is that we have to have smart tax policy and make sure government spending is under control. I would have never voted for the infrastructure bill. I want to make sure regulations are pushed back to where businesses can thrive. And I will focus on free-market principles.

“We must prioritize out national security. We must secure our borders. We can’t leave an unfinished wall like the current administration is doing.

“My third platform item is protect our Constitutional right because they are definitely under attack. The First Amendment is under attack. We are being muzzled and muted by the Biden administration. And our second amendment is under attack. …The Constitution gives me the right to protect my life.

King was also scheduled to speak in Thomasville, Quitman, Valdosta and Statenville on Friday.

Kevin Price can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1820