With less than a week before the May 24th Republican Primary Election concludes after several days of early voting, the public campaign disclosures are out — and we now know who RINO Speaker David Ralston (Blue Ridge) is prioritizing for re-election and how much he gave! Of course, Ralston is backing his most loyal cronies in the State House, and if you wondered who they are, wonder no more!
Besides getting the maximum $3,000 contribution from Speaker Ralston, you can see above that Carpenter’s next big contribution came from lobbyists for Hollywood in Georgia.
Congratulations to our newest GRA chapter! The new North Metro Regional chapter was formed this evening, and it includes Cherokee County & Pickens County Republican Assembly members! We look forward to good things to come from this group.
GRA members from Cherokee and Pickens counties met this evening at the Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant in Canton to revitalize the chapter that had formerly gone dormant in the area. A body of new proposed bylaws were adopted by the participating membership, and then executive officers were elected to lead the new chapter organization.
Newly elected North Metro RA Regional chapter officers
The newly elected officers of the North Metro Republican Assembly regional chapter are Richard Jordan (President), David Oles (Vice President), Sandy Docherty (Secretary), and David Docherty (Treasurer).
Thereafter, the participating membership also voted to endorse some of the local candidates for local school board and Cherokee County Commissioner. As always with the GRA, an endorsement can only be won by a 2/3rds majority of the participating membership, and an option for “no endorsement” must always be an option on the vote. Only the following local candidates received the requisite votes to earn endorsement:
• For Chairman of the Cherokee County Commission: Harry Johnston • For Schoool District 3: Cam Waters • For School District 4: Chris Greggory
The GRA Board will be voting on accepting this new regional chapter at the next state board meeting. We look forward to providing you with more information on the new North Metro regional chapter in the days ahead.
Marietta, GA — Participating members of the Cobb County Republican Assembly met today at the Cobb County GOP Headquarters to hear speeches by local candidates and to vote on whether to endorse them and others nominated by the membership. It takes a two-thirds majority of the participating membership for a candidate to be endorsed by the RAs. The local endorsement convention ran from 10:30 am and run until 2pm, and included lunch. Here are the candidates the Cobb RAs voted to endorse:
David Delk campaign sign with GRA sign topper
Legislative Offices
For State Senate District 37: David Delk (West Cobb & Southeast Bartow)
The Georgia Republican Assembly urges the inclusion of Kandiss Taylor & Catherine Davis in the upcoming gubernatorial debates that are being hosted by WSB and Gray Television.
A recent poll from the respected polling firm Landmark Communications has Taylor at 10% which has been more than enough in the past for inclusion in primary debates. Catherine Davis recently scored 5% in an Emerson poll and deserves inclusion as well.
If the Republicans are to win in November we need to avoid unnecessarily antagonizing the tens of thousands of voters and activists who support Kandiss Taylor and Catherine Davis. They deserve the chance to make their cases to the voters.
Therefore, the Georgia Republican Assembly urges the inclusion of Kandiss Taylor and Catherine Davis in any primary debates held for Governor.
The debates will be hosted by WSB-TV, Nexstar Media Group, Gray Television, and the Atlanta Press Club in partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The debates are an April 24th showdown hosted by WSB-TV, an April 28th debate hosted by WTOC/Gray TV, and a May 1 face off hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
If you live in Cobb County or the surrounding area, be sure to check out the Cobb RA chapter’s county Endorsement Convention for local candidates on Saturday, April 30th at the Cobb GOP Headquarters!
Early-bird registration ends after this coming Friday, April 22nd!
Come hear candidates for local office running in the Republican primary speak, ask them questions, and then—if you’re a Cobb RA member—vote on whether to endorse a candidate for office! Everyone who registers is welcome to attend, but only members may vote.
Remember: It takes a two-thirds majority of the participating membership in order for a candidate to win endorsement of the county organization. Proxies are not permitted at endorsement conventions.
Date: Saturday, April 30th
Registration Early bird special: $20 (before April 22nd) (lunch included)
Late registration: $25 (after April 22nd) (lunch included)
Location: Cobb GOP Headquarters
Time: Opens at 10:00am / Business starts at 10:30am
Last week the NorthWest GRA chapter (NWGRA) completed their electronic endorsement convention for local candidates, confirming many of those recommended at the state convention, and adding several others.
Congratulations to the following candidates for receiving the NWGRA endorsement! These candidates automatically receive the Georgia Republican Assembly endorsement as well:
• State Senate District 52: Derek Keeney
• State Senate District 53: Colton Moore
• State Senate District 54: Doug Keener
• State House District 1: Jackie Harling
• State House District 2: Jim Coles
• State House District 3: Mitchell Horner
• State House District 4: Nick Voyles
• State House District 5: No Endorsement
• State House District 6: No Endorsement
• Catoosa County Commission District 2: Britt Fant
• Catoosa County Commission District 4: Charlie Stephens
Catoosa is the only county in the NWGRA chapter that has a GRA County Chairman to facilitate the vetting, but they anticipate having more county chairmen in the future. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts from the NWGRA on their Facebook page about each of the endorsed candidates!
Newnan, GA— GRA members from all over the state met on Saturday, April 2nd at the Newnan Centre to hear speeches from candidates and vote on endorsements. The event was called to order at 10:00am and wrapped before 5:00pm with Chick-fil-A lunch included.
Over 300 tickets were sold to this GRA Convention. Under the rules of the organization, a candidate may only be endorsed if he receives at least a 2/3rds vote of the participating membership. A vote for “no endorsement” is always an option.
Here are the official results of the 2022 GRA Endorsement Convention:
GRA Candidates Endorsed for State House
State House District 1: Jackie Harling (pending chapter approval) *
State House District 12: Robert Watson (Chattooga County)
Challenging Republican incumbent Eddie Lumsden with a vote score of “F” 38% (2019) and “F” 35% (2020)
State House District 13: Luke Martin (Floyd County area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Katie Dempsey with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019) and “F” 39% (2020)
State House Distrct 17: Neil Wolin (Paulding County area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Martin Momtahan with a vote score of “C” 50% (2019), and “D” 45% (2020)
State House District 20: Charlice Byrd (Cherokee County) (incumbent)
State House District 22: Jordan Ridley (Cherokee County area)
State House District 23: Allen Hutchinson (Waleska / Cherokee area)
State House District 83: Catherine Bernard (DeKalb County area)
State House District 100: David Clark (Buford area) (incumbent)
State House District 108: Johnny Crist (Lilburn area)
State House District 117: Noelle Kahaian (McDonough & Griffin)
State House District 144: Jayson Stonne (Macon area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Dale Washburn with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019)and “D” 41% (2020)
State House District 164: Chasity Pawvlik (Savannah area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Ron Stephens with a vote score of “D” 48% (2019) and “F” 36% (2020)
State House District 175: Bill Blanchard (Valdosta area)
Challenging Republican incumbent John LaHood with a vote score of “C” 51% (2019) and “F” 35% (2020)
State House District 178: Cason Carbaugh (Blackshear area)
Challenging Republican incumbentSteven Meeks with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019) and “D” 43% (2020).
The number of endorsed candidates running for State House was particularly encouraging since virtually every one of these candidates pledged to not support David Ralston for re-election as Speaker of the House, if elected as a State Representative. Many of them also spoke against H.B. 1013.
* Under GRA rules, where a local race has an operational county or regional RA chapter, that chapter has primary jurisdictional authority to vote on endorsement of candidates. While this candidate was approved by the state convention, this approval must be finalized by the approval of the local chapter’s participating membership before it is made official.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for State Senate
State Senate District 3: Jeff Jones (Brunswick area)
State Senate District 6: Angelic Moore (Smyrna & Sandy Springs area)
State Senate District 17: Brett Mauldin (McDonough area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Brian Strickland with a vote score of “B” 63% (2018), “D” 42% (2019), and “C” 54% (2020).
State Senate District 18: Dianne Vann (Macon area)
* Under GRA rules, where a local race has an operational county or regional RA chapter, that chapter has primary jurisdictional authority to vote on endorsement of candidates. While this candidate was approved by the state convention, this approval must be finalized by the approval of the local chapter’s participating membership before it is made official.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for U.S. Congress
Candidate Surrea Ivy
Congressional District 1: No endorsement
Congressional District 2: Vivian Childs
Congressional District 3: Jared Craig
Congressional District 4: Surrea Ivy
Congressional District 5: No endorsement
Congressional District 6: No endorsement
Congressional District 7: Dr. Lisa Babbage (write-in)
Congressional District 8: No endorsement
Congressional District 9: Michael Boggus
Congressional District 10: No endorsement
Congressional District 11: No endorsement
Congressional District 12: No endorsement
Congressional District 13: Caesar Gonzales
Congressional District 14: Marjorie Taylor Greene(incumbent) (unanimous vote)
Marjorie Taylor Greene at the event.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for State Office
Public Service Commissioner: Tim Echols
Insurance Commissioner: Patrick Witt
Labor Commissioner: Bruce Thompson
State School Superintendent: No endorsement
Attorney General: John Gordon
Secretary of State: Jody Hice
Lt. Governor: Burt Jones
GRA Endorsed Candidates for Top Ballot Offices
U.S. Senator: Kelvin King
Georgia Governor: No endorsement
In the race for Governor, both David Perdue and Kandiss Taylor performed strongly, but each candidate had an even number of votes, so neither received the two-thirds necessary to earn the GRA endorsement.
Candidate for Governor, Kandiss TaylorGRA endorsed candidate for U.S. Senator Kelvin King
