AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Republican David Perdue is getting some help from 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the closing week of Georgia's tight U.S. Senate race as he counters attacks on his business record by Democrat Michelle Nunn.

At a rally Wednesday in Augusta with a few hundred Perdue supporters, Romney, argued that Republicans, not Democrats, will help the middle class. He said Perdue understands where jobs come from and how hard it is to create them.

Perdue has spent the better part of a month on the defense, as Nunn blasts him as an out-of-touch businessman who shipped jobs overseas.

Georgia has emerged as a key battleground in the fight for control of the Senate, and Democrats see Nunn as one of their best hopes nationally to pick up a seat.