Former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) announced Tuesday that he will not enter the race for U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022.

Why it matters: The 2022 election will play a key role in determining which party controls the Senate after Republicans — including Perdue — lost two Georgia seats to Democrats during last month's dual runoffs.

• Perdue ran in a tighter race against now-Sen. Jon Ossoff than his fellow Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffer did against now-Sen. Raphael Warnock.
• Since Warnock ran in a special election, he will be up for re-election in 2022. Loeffler and former Rep. Doug Collins are among the Republicans considering a challenge.

What they're saying: "This is a personal decision, not a political one. I am confident that whoever wins the Republican Primary next year will defeat the Democrat candidate in the General election for this seat, and I will do everything I can to make that happen," Perdue said in a statement.

• "As we saw in my race in November, Georgia is not a blue state. The more Georgians that vote, the better Republicans do. These two current liberal US Senators do not represent the values of a majority of Georgians."