Smyrna, GA — Last Saturday GRA members from across the state gathered at a convention to hear speeches from candidates running for GA GOP officer positions, and then to vote on whether to endorse any of those candidates. The GRA always requires a minimum of a 2/3rds majority from the participating membership in a vote to earn the endorsement, and an option of “no endorsement” is always an option.
Our GRA President Alex Johnsonkicked off the meeting with an excellent “State of the GRA” message, delineating the many accomplishments of the movement so far this GA GOP convention cycle, and the video of that message is now available for you to see on our YouTube channel here:
These GRA accomplishments have gained so much attention even nation-wide that they managed to attract the ire of the ultra uber-liberal New York Times in this article today. We wear the Times‘ attacks as a badge of honor.
Our Vetting Committee reached out to each of the state party candidates in advance and compiled a Vetting Committee report, which is available on our web site here. The participating GRA members voted to hold most of the endorsement votes by secret ballot and to allow for multiple ballots, eliminating the last-place finisher in each round.
We want to thank two of the candidates for Georgia Republican Party State Chairman, Josh McKoon and Rebecca Yardley, for coming in person to the Georgia Republican Assembly Endorsement Convention and asking for the GRA endorsement. Rebecca Yardley’s commitment to use her chairmanship to pressure the General Assembly to get rid of the Dominion machines was very well received. However, the endorsement vote was 123 to 14 in favor of Josh McKoon.
It’s been a good week for former State Senator Josh McKoon’s campaign for Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. On last Monday, he also won a straw poll of participants at the Cobb GOP Chairman’s Forum, 64%-35% over Rebecca Yardley.
We had many candidates travel from far and wide to participate in our Endorsement Convention, and we appreciate every one of them for coming and giving our members the chance and hear from them. Incumbent GA GOP Secretary Mike Welsh, for example, came with his wife all the way from Augusta, Georgia. Conservative Talk-Show host Brian Prichard from north Georgia also personally came and spoke, as did Brad Barnes from Rome.
Every single candidate who shared helped our members make a more informed decision on who to support in the up-coming GA GOP State Convention, and we thank them one and all.
We were also honored to have a surprise visit from the current GA GOP Chairman David Shaferfrom Gwinnett. Both he and our GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore (Dade) shared messages with our members, which you can watch here:
In some of the races, multiple ballots had to be taken before the convention could settle on a winner. Three people are running for GA GOP 1st Vice Chair. So on the third ballot in that race, DeKalb GOP Chairwoman Marci McCarthy received the two-thirds necessary to win the endorsement. She is challenging incumbent B.J. Van Gundy.
In the race for 2nd Vice Chair of the GA GOP, the results were more decisive early on. Even though four candidates are running for that position, incumbent Brant Frost Vwon the endorsement by a ratio of more than 4-to-1 on the first ballot.
When it was all said and done, the GRA members voted for a full slate of endorsed candidates for every GA GOP Executive Committee position and even for the Over 80K and Under 80K Chairs. You can see the full list of our endorsed candidate below:
- GA GOP Chair: Josh McKoon (former State Senator)
- 1st Vice Chair: Marci McCarthy (DeKalb GOP Chair)
- 2nd Vice Chair: Brant Frost V (Incumbent)
- Secretary: Caroline Jeffords (Fulton GOP Vice Chair)
- Assistant Secretary: Suzi Voyles (Sandy Springs)
- Treasurer: Vikki Consiglio (current GA GOP Assistant Treasurer)
- Assistant Treasurer: Alton Russell (Columbus)
- Over 80K Chair: Salleigh Grubbs (Cobb GOP Chair)
- Under 80K Chair: Chris Mora (Pickens GOP Chair)
We hope that each of these candidates will be successful at bringing the reform so needed in our party: Returning to the principles, making the GOP an organization that opposes socialism in our camp, that confronts bad public policy, and confronts corrupt politicians even if they wear an “R” label. We need the Republican Party to stand up for election integrity, for medical freedom, for the vulnerable lives of the pre-born in the womb, for shielding our citizens from government stealing of our money and liberties, and for many other American principles.
The delegates who will vote on these races to determine if these candidates win election were already chosen at the Georgia Republican county conventions in early March of this year. Many of them are GRA members. They will gather in Columbus, Georgia for the GA GOP State Convention on Friday and Saturday, June 9th & 10th. Early registration for this state convention will be $110 per person. If you are a delegate or alternate to the GA GOP State Convention, and you have not yet pre-registered for the event, you can register at this link.
Beyond these Endorsement Convention results, today the GRA released the first public poll of delegates and alternates to the 2023 GAGOP convention, suggesting that our endorsed candidates have a strong chance of winning. The poll showed McKoon at 43% to 27% for Rebecca Yardley and 4% for Dennis Futch with 26% undecided.
GRA endorsed GAGOP Second Vice Chairman Brant Frost leads in the poll with 46% to 18% for Ken Carroll and 36% undecided.
GRA-endorsed candidates Marci McCarthy, Vikki Consiglio, Suzi Voyles, Alton Russell also lead in their races.
GRA Member Mike Welsh leads fellow GRA Member Caroline Jeffords by 29-18% with a massive 43% undecided.
One comment
Thank you!