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CNN  — 

Almost from the moment that Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appointed business executive Kelly Loeffler to the Senate seat vacated by Johnny Isakson earlier this year, she’s struggled to put a foot right.

Less than a month after Loeffler was appointed, she engaged in a ham-handed attempt to align herself with the Trump wing of the Georgia Republican Party by accusing Utah Sen. Mitt Romney of seeking to “appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame” during the impeachment trial.

Despite that attempt to solidify the Trumpers behind her, Loeffler was unable to keep Rep. Doug Collins, who rose to national popularity among Republicans during the House impeachment investigation, from challenging her in the upcoming August 11 primary.

Then came the real problem for Loeffler. Or maybe just her biggest problem. 

In mid-March, as the country was beginning to shut down due to the coronavirus – and the stock market began to look very shaky – it was revealed that Loeffler and her husband had sold 27 stocks between January 24 and February 14 at a value of $1.28 million and $3.1 million, and also bought three stocks for between $450,000 and $1 million, including shares in Citrix, a teleconferencing software company.

Loeffler, who has considerable personal wealth, said neither she nor her husband had any knowledge of the sales or buys – which had raised red flags due to the fact that senators had been given private briefings about the potential severity of the coronavirus crisis prior to the public being aware.

By early April, however, Loeffler announced that she and her husband would sell off all of their individual stocks. (In spite of that, Loeffler continued to defend the trades as recently as mid-April – blaming the attacks on, uh, socialism.)

The series of controversies has led nonpartisan campaign handicappers to downgrade her chances at holding the seat. As Cook Political Report Senate editor Jessica Taylor wrote in April:

“Even before the stock trades surfaced, early polling in the race showed support for Loeffler was soft. And the stories about her stock trades couldn’t come at a worse time too, right when she needed to be boosting her relatively unknown image with voters. First impressions matter, and this isn’t a good one for a political newcomer.”

All of that has led to some speculation that Loeffler may not run again – or, at least, that if she didn’t run it would improve her party’s chances of holding the seat in the fall.

On Wednesday, Loeffler rejected the idea out of hand – telling CNN’s Manu Raju “no” when asked whether she might drop out of the race and insisting she is “absolutely” still running.

Which, sure! But if Loeffler can’t change the trajectory of the race – and if polling suggests she could cost the party the seat in the fall (whereas Collins would not), then expect the pressure on her to reconsider her November plans to ramp up significantly. And soon.

The Point: Appointed senators often have a difficult time winning a full term even in the best of circumstances. And this is, uh, not the best of circumstances for Loeffler.