October 2023 - The Georgia Republican Assembly

2nd District GOP “Low Country Boil” Out-Shines Infamous 8th District’s Fish Fry

October 21, 2023 by Georgia Republican Assembly in events

Pelham, Georgia — The Georgia Republican Assembly sponsored the Second District Republican Rally and Low Country Boil in southern Georgia on Saturday, October 21. The rally was held under a large shed at Montaña Produce on US Highway 19, across the street from the Flint John Deere dealership. Pelham is an agricultural community in Mitchell County.

Attendees praised the event as being much better than the 8th Congressional District GOP’s Fish Fry in August, in which the hosts came out with hostility against grassroots activists who were promoting election integrity.

After the invocation and pledge of allegiance, Georgia GOP First Vice Chair Brian K. Pritchard laid out a plan to take back the country. “The first phase to taking the country back has to be local,” Pritchard said, “We have to put candidates up for school board, good candidates up for county commission, good candidates up for city council and mayor.”

One candidate for Congress from the Second District who spoke was GRA member Chuck Hand. Chuck Hand and wife Mandy—who both spent time in jail on federal charges for attending an election integrity rally in Washington, D.C.—have been very active in the Second District GOP and in the Taylor County GOP as well. Congressional candidate Hand said, “What we’ve allowed our country to become is not a good look. I’m not here to cozy up to the status quo, ya’ll, I’m here to put them on notice.” Hand continued, ”We are not alone. There are more of us than them. We are the majority now. David took down Goliath with a slingshot and a rock. Allow me to be your rock and slingshot me into United States Congress where I will do all that I can to restore America back to America.”

The Second Congressional District is the largest geographical district in Georgia, encompassing the southwest corner of the state from Columbus to Macon and points south, all the way to the Florida state line. The Second District GOP Chairman is GRA Member Tyler Johnson, who was unable to attend the rally due to military deployment. Other volunteers pitched in to help, though, making the event a success even with the Chairman’s absence.

Crawford County GOP Chairman and GRA member Troy Cook was very involved with planning the event, and was responsible for the successful silent auction which took place during the rally. Troy said, “Even though Tyler Johnson, the Chairman of the Second District, was unable to attend due to his military obligations, he deserves the credit for the success of the event. It was because of his hard work behind-the-scenes planning, organizing, making calls to vendors, and working out the logistics of deliveries that a small group of great people were able to pull together one of the best events I’ve attended in a long time. Unlike the 8th District Fish Fry, everyone was welcome, regardless of their political stance. It was a great event with great people from all across the state.”

The large shed where the event was held was spacious and accommodating. Weather was pleasant for the gathering, with a mid-afternoon high temperature of 78 and a constant breeze from the northwest most of the day. Attendees had plenty of opportunity to fellowship, visit with vendors, and enjoy the music and food in between speeches. GRA First Vice President Brant Frost V, who also spoke at the event, later said, “It was great to see so many GRA Members in Pelham. Over the last few months the Georgia Republican Assembly has grown like a weed in southwest Georgia. And based on the reception we received the overwhelming majority of people there are with us in spirit.”

GRA member Field Searcy spoke about election integrity and the need for paper ballots. “The QR Code is illegal, and it’s a spoilation of our ballot, and we can’t read it,” Field said. “When people get informed and get engaged they can make a difference. Over the last three years people have been getting the facts, and learning the law. They’ve been standing up, they’ve been going to county commission meetings or election meetings,” Field continued, “and you guys need to do the same, and we’ll give you all the tools you need on our website georgiansfortruth.org.”

Other speakers included Georgia Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, Freedom Caucus Representative Mallory Staples, and State Senator Colton Moore. Senator Moore spoke about the nineteen individuals who were indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Senator Moore—standing in front of a John Deere cotton harvester—asked the crowd, “If I had a spare million dollars, I’d rather buy that cotton picker behind me than defend my innocence in Atlanta. Wouldn’t you?” Legal costs for defense of the indicted individuals have mushroomed. The GRA is sponsoring the Fulton Defense Fund fundraising event in Banks County, Georgia on November 2 (https://votescope.org/fultondefensefund/).

*GRA members gathered at the Low Country Boil*

Many GRA members were in attendance at the rally. GRA member Amanda Prettyman drove down from Bibb County. Prettyman said of the event, “I really enjoyed the atmosphere and commend the Second District Republicans and Tyler, for upholding Republican, Constitutional values of free speech. We don’t have to agree on everything, but election integrity is certainly a part of the Republican platform—even the RNC issued a resolution about election integrity and hand-counting where able—and healthy debate and discourse within the party over how we achieve election integrity is so important. The Second District upheld that and demonstrated the best of the Republican Party. It was a fun, warm, family atmosphere!”

Activists Hold a Peaceful Protest of Drew Ferguson’s Flip Against Jim Jordan for U.S. Speaker

October 20, 2023 by Georgia Republican Assembly in events

Newnan, Georgia — A number of patriots came to peacefully rally on Friday along Georgia Highway 34 near the Newnan office of Congressman Drew Ferguson to encourage the Congressman to represent Republicans of the Third District by voting for NFRA-endorsed Congressman Jim Jordan for speaker of the US Congress, and to support our Republican values.

Earlier on Friday, Congressman Ferguson voted against Congressman Jim Jordan for Speaker of the US House. Ferguson has often been at odds with conservatives in his district, and was officially censured at the Third District GOP Convention earlier this year for—as the resolution states: “failure to keep his promise to speak and act” on behalf of his constituents. Conservative scorecards have given Congressman Ferguson low scores based on his pitiful voting record (https://thefreedomindex.org/legislator/f000465/).

Local resident and Republican activist Maxwell Britton summed up the sentiment of the crowd, “We want Congressman Ferguson to know we the people are tired of being ignored and unrepresented.” Maxwell waved an American flag and held a sign which said, “Drew votes for himself.” GRA member Laura Bosmenier drove to the rally from Fulton County, and held a sign which said, “Ferguson, Please Represent US! Vote for Jordan for Speaker.”

On Thursday, Congressman Drew Ferguson released a statement saying he would not vote for Congressman Jim Jordan because “the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the Speaker.”

But no one at the rally is bullying the Congressman, Coweta County GOP Chairman and GRA member Brant Frost V emphasized, as he held a sign which said, “Wake Up Drew.” Frost pointed out the positive nature of the rally, “The ultimate goal is to get good pictures and video, hopefully they’ll get a mention on TV, and we’ll get tens of thousands of people to see this.”

The Press was indeed present, and interviewed several folks at the rally. GRA member and Third District Congressional candidate Jim Bennett was one of those persons interviewed. Bennett—who waved a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag at the rally—said that Ferguson’s vote against Jordan for Speaker “does not represent our District. He (Congressman Ferguson) represents himself, his friends, and his donors.” Coweta County attorney Jared Craig was also at the rally. Craig, who serves as President of the Legacy Political Action Committee, said in his interview “When he (Congressman Ferguson) first started running for office, he was who these people wanted to vote for, but he has changed.”

One lady said she was in her late sixties and this was the first time in her life that she had ever come out to a public rally of any kind. Lots of passersby waved and honked horns in support of the peaceful rally.

Results from the NFRA Convention in Orlando, Florida

October 16, 2023 by Georgia Republican Assembly in conventions / events

Orlando, FL — Over last weekend, GRA members gathered with other Republican Assembly members from as far away as Hawaii for the NFRA Endorsing Convention held at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Florida from October 13 to October 15, 2023. This national grassroots organization consists almost exclusively of unpaid volunteers from all parts of the country, including Puerto Rico, and they took decisive steps to shape the future of conservative leadership in America with their latest endorsements. In addition, they gathered to adopt resolutions and additions to the NFRA platform, and to elect officers.

Members from Georgia made up the largest delegation at the convention with 32 delegates participating—even surpassing the delegations from Florida and California! As with the GRA, it takes a minimum two-thirds majority vote of the participating membership to win the NFRA’s endorsement.

Congressman Jim Jordan Wins the NFRA Endorsement for Speaker of the U.S. House

At this significant convention, U.S.Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) received a unanimous endorsement for the role of Speaker of the House of Representatives. His unwavering dedication to upholding constitutional values and proven leadership skills made him the standout choice for the U.S. House’s vital position.

This endorsement comes just before the U.S. House is expected to vote today on whether to elect Jordan as Speaker. Over the weekend, holdouts against Jordan have announced a change of mind, including Republican Congressmen from Georgia such as Austin Scott (R-GA’s 8th District) who attempted to run against Jordan in the Republican Caucus for the Speakership nomination.

Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida had been scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the NFRA Convention, but he was not able to leave Washington, D.C. due to the flurry to negotiate support for Jordan over the weekend. Gaetz instead called into the NFRA Convention and expressed support for their work and for Jordan. “I wish I was there with you rather than here in Washington, D.C.,” Gaetz told the crowd, “but we’re doing very important work, making sure that we get a Speaker who can advance Republican priorities. … Balanced budgets and programatic review of how we spend the taxpayer dollars.”

He added to standing applause: “We are still at the Capitol having small group meetings to bring every element of our conference together to elect Jim Jordan the next Speaker of the House!”

Americans await in suspense to see whether Jim Jordan will get the 217 votes needed to win election as the U.S. House Speaker.

NFRA Delegates Enthusiastically Endorse Donald Trump

*Donald Trump speaking at NFRA Convention*

In addition to Jordan, NFRA delegates overwhelmingly voted to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States. These Republican Assembly members believe that these two men have the courage and fortitude to put America first ahead of lobbyists, corporations and foreign nations. We believe these men have what it takes to stand up to the uni-party.

Some RA members, such as Mark Minich of Connecticut, were less enthusiastic about the Trump endorsement decision particularly because of mistakes they believe he made in 2020, expanding the national debt particularly with the CARES Act, mailing wealth redistribution checks, promoting Dr. Fauci, and his apparent back-pedaling on the sanctity of life following the media backlash received after the overturn of Roe v Wade. Not to mention his bump-stock ban relating to gun rights. Opponents of the endorsement feared Trump does not consistently hold to the principles and political philosophy of the Republican Assembly.

However, these concerns were overcome in the minds of most of the participating delegates due to former President Trump’s reputation for aggressively fighting the deep state, and by the sheer paranoia the Left displays at his leadership. Supporters voiced particular appreciation for his U.S. Supreme Court appointments, his success at keeping America out of war, and his tax cuts. The baseless indictments and petty attempts at impeachment of him only continue to endear Trump to Republican voters.

Election Integrity Workshops a Huge Success at the NFRA Convention

*Sam Carnline with* GeorgiansforTruth *leading a workshop illustrating one of the ways paper ballots can be counted in an election.*

The Georgia Republican Assembly delegation in attendance included many of the leaders from the chapters in south Georgia, including Jeff Jones, the Coastal RA President, Ginny Hall and Joy Turner, members of the Coastal chapter’s executive team. Georgia election integrity leaders Holly Kesler and Field Searcy led a workshop on election integrity featuring a simulation of a paper ballot hand count at the precinct level, using two different methods.

Holly Kesler stressed the need for decentralization of elections and greater involvement and volunteer participation at the precinct level. This workshop was very well received and appreciated by patriots from around the country.

Speakers at the convention included Mike Lindell, Alex Newman, Dr. Douglas Frank, Captain Seth Keshel, Mat Staver, Tom Homan, Brigitte Gabriel, and a panel of whistleblowers addressing corruption within the DOJ.

GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V chaired the Resolutions Committee, which, in addition to resolutions, presented an exhaustive platform document. The committee welcomed input from all NFRA members, many of whom have done extensive research on public policy and become near experts on the issues important to them. They also presented a resolution regarding the “natural born citizen” requirement for presidential candidates, urging activists:

“RESOLVED, it is the will of this convention that only candidates who meet the natural born-citizenship standard, interpreted through an originalist and strict constructionist standard, be placed on the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballots.”

NFRA Welcomes New Chapter: South Carolina Republican Assembly

*Jeff Davis introduces himself as the new chartering President of the South Carolina Republican Assembly*

During the NFRA Convention Board meeting, leaders from across the country were excited to approve the charter for a new South Carolina chapter. Additionally, patriots from Louisiana attended the event and expressed eagerness to also charter a chapter in their state. This represents notable progress toward the goal of establishing strong Republican Assembly chapters in each state of the union that will provide accountability to their state government and bring reform to their state GOP. Please urge your patriot friends and family in other states to consider connecting with the Republican Assembly chapter in their state.

Additionally, the NFRA Board elected executive officers to serve the NFRA for the next two years. GRA President Alex Johnson was elected unanimously to serve another term as NFRA President. GRA Members James Jordan and Nathaniel Darnell were also elected to leadership positions within the NFRA.

*Nathaniel Darnell (far left) won election as the new NFRA Membership Secretary*

Marxist Tax-funded Abortion Measure Defeated in Fulton County

October 5, 2023 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Government / Issues

On Wednesday, Fulton County Commissioners Bob Ellis (Dist. 2) and Bridget Thorne (Dist. 1) led a valiant effort against a measure that would have given $300,000 to fund abortion murder in Fulton County. The Resolution, sponsored by Commissioner Dana Barrett (Dist. 3) would have forced pro-life residents of Fulton County to pay for “financial assistance and logistical support for abortion” through a socialistic donation of tax dollars to an organization called Access Reproductive Care (“ARC”) Southeast. This pro-abortion organization funds abortions, transportation to abortion mills, and child care for the living children of expectant mothers during the murder of their pre-born brother or sister.

More than fifty attended the meeting in person to give public comment, including some GRA members and former State Rep. Alveda King, niece of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I would not have been okay with my taxes funding the gas chambers or ovens in Nazi Germany, or even the train transportation to the death camps,” said Fulton GRA Member Sarah Pedro during public comments. “Just as I am not okay with any funding that would promote the current holocaust of our youngest and most vulnerable Georgians. It is shameful to even be discussing the killing of the pre-born as health care. Health care for whom? Certainly not the baby!”

Speakers highlighted the disproportionate abortion rates in the black community. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 65% of babies killed in the womb by elective abortion in 2020 in Georgia were black babies.

Former abortion supporter turned pro-life advocate Angela Stanton King, founder of Auntie Angie’s House and president of the American King Foundation, who gave birth in prison while shackled and was pardoned by President Trump for her 2004 conviction in a vehicle-theft ring, also gave public comment.

*Packed abortion clinic parking lot this week in Augusta, Georgia*

A number of commenters identified themselves as Democratic Socialists and were vocal from the crowd supporting the pro-abortion, wealth redistribution measure. The argument from supporters of the measure was that there is “deepening health inequity” in the community that is impacting black women. They cited the overturn of Roe v. Wade and implementation of Georgia’s Heartbeat law as a reason why the funding is needed, however unlike some states, Georgia has not seen it’s abortion facilities shut down nor a massive decline in abortion numbers. Thirteen abortion facilities remain open continuing their bloody work, and pro-life sidewalk advocates report that abortion clinics are as busy as ever. Advocates for the measure urged Fulton County to match a donation made by the Atlanta City Council to the pro-abortion non-profit to help with this socialistic “equalizing” effort.

Surprise opposition to the measure came from pro-choice Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman (Dist. 6). Abdur-Rahman had made a motion a few weeks prior to appropriate funds to help meet homeless needs that was rejected with Commissioner Dana Barrett opposing the motion. Abdur-Rahman took a position against other Democrats who supported Barrett’s motion funding ARC Southeast, asking “How can you support funding an abortion non-profit with budget money you don’t have for the homeless?”

Commissioner Thorne strongly opposed the measure highlighted the fact that $300,000 is four times the amount the County gives to The Boys and Girls Club.

“Pro-abortion advocates who are constantly requesting tax dollars to fund their abortion agenda do this in the name of “choice”…however, they unequivocally reject the notion of a woman’s “choice” to have the baby. True choice provides women the help and resources they need to have their babies,” said Fulton Resident Sarah Pedro.

Democrat Commission Chair Rob Pitts did not vote. After making a statement opposing the measure, Commissioner Bridget Thorne had to leave and was not able to vote. Lacking the four votes required to pass, the motion failed on a 3-2 vote.

The pro-abortion motion might be added to a future agenda, and if that happens pro-life and limited government activists are committed to providing even stronger opposition. As Abolitionist Wendell Phillips quipped, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

If you would like to see all pre-born children given legal protection in Georgia, so that it is illegal for organizations like ARC to promote prenatal homicide, sign this petition.

If you live in or near Fulton County, we encourage you to attend their meetings and voice your concerns. Commissioners’ meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 10 a.m. in the Fulton County Government Center Assembly Hall, 141 Pryor Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia. The next meeting will be held October 18.

Residents have three options to participate in 2-minute public comment: in person, in writing, or virtually via Zoom. All virtual public comments and requests to speak in person must be submitted before the clerk sounds the start of the meeting.

To submit a public comment in writing, residents can contact Fulton.Communication@fultoncountyga.gov or by filling out the form located here.

Success at October Georgia Board of Elections Meeting

October 4, 2023 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Election / Government

Atlanta—Yesterday’s state Board of Elections saw another great turnout of patriots present. 30 of them withstood 10 hours of listening in on cases, petitions and comments. The greatest success of the meeting was that all of the charges harassing GRA member Jessie Blankenship were dismissed. Moreover, the harassing criminal charges against North Metro RA President Richard Jordan were also dropped, and now he only has to deal with some pending civil charges. Jordan has his own countersuit against the parties harassing him with a lawsuit for activities during last year’s election. GRA member David Oles served as the attorney representing Mr. Jordan.

For those not familiar with their cases, Jessie Blankenship had offered to drive people in her community to the polls during the election so they could vote, and for this act of generosity a complaint was filed against her. In Richard Jordan’s case, he asked to see a poll manager at the polls to inquire about the security of the “QR” codes on his ballot. After he made this inquiry, the police were called and it was falsely reported that he was making a disturbance. Video of the police approaching Mr. Jordan show that he was disturbing no one, and he asked the officer to leave him alone because the officer was violating his privacy by coming within view of his ballot, which had not yet been submitted to be counted.

Participants learned the people in NGOs are fraudulently registering people (some non-existen fictitious people) to vote.

A petition asking action from the State Board of Elections compiled by GRA IT Chairman Field Searcy, who is the co-founder of GeorgiansforTruth.or g, also contained elements on injury voters have experienced from governing bodies. Many other GRA members signed that petition. Marilyn Marx from Coalition of Good Governance’s submitted a request for hand-marked paper ballots based on confidentiality of the ballot. This proposal was defeated but the Board asked to have a further dialogue with Marilyn and other activists. Board member Matthew Mashburn led a more public friendly meeting than Chairman William Duffy did at the previous meeting.

One of the board members privately told the patriots that the on-going persistence is having an impact on the legislators, and encouraged them to keep it up.