Dalton, GA – On Saturday, an overwhelming majority of delegates at the Georgia Republican Party state convention approved a resolution prohibiting Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger from being allowed to run in a future Republican primary.
The resolution states:
“It is resolved that the Georgia Republican Party shall not qualify, allow to be qualified, or take any action to allow Brad Raffensperger to qualify as a Republican or run for any elected office unless and until a GAGOP Convention removes this restriction; and,
Be it further resolved that the Georgia Republican Party shall fully defend against any future litigation or legal action taken by Brad Raffensperger or others that in any way claims that the Georgia Republican Party is or can be required to allow Brad Raffensperger to run for public office as a Republican.”
This comes after the Secretary of State has repeatedly opposed and obstructed Republican efforts to establish secure and transparent elections. In addition to the well known Curling v. Raffenspergercase which exposed and uncovered massive vulnerabilities in Georgia’s elections, the Dekalb GOP filed a lawsuit against Brad Raffensperger in regard to the encryption keys which were stored in the database in plain text. When this password became public knowledge election integrity activists made t-shirts featuring the password in order to expose the absurd vulnerability of the Dominion voting systems.
“The system is obviously not secure if the system admin password is so readily available,” said Field Searcy leader of Georgians for Truth and GRA Board member.
Some would go so far as to say that the Secretary of State’s actions do not represent incompetence, but rather malfeasance of office. Either way, it is clear Raffensperger did not meet the minimum standard the Republican Party expects from a Republican elected official.
Long Awaited Victory
Back in 2021, at the state convention in Jekyl Island, (the year Brad Raffensperger had been denied election as a Republican delegate in his own precinct) Alex Johnson (then GRA President) proposed a resolution censoring and blocking Brad Raffensperger. The idea was debated on the convention floor where the establishment along with chairman, Randy Evans argued that such an action was not legal, would lead to an expensive lawsuit, and the effort was ultimately not successful.
“After 16 years of Republican Party conventions, this was the most meaningful one in party history,” said Alex Johnson GRA Chairman and President of the NFRA.
While most resolutions merely express the views of the party and educate the public on issues, they usually have no teeth. This resolution was unique in that it gives direction to the party leadership and requires them to abide by it, and even take action to defend the decision from legal challenges. It is important to remember that political parties control ballot access for their primary. The Republican primary ballot doesn’t belong to the government or to the general public, it belongs to the Republican party.
The negative reputation of Georgia’s Secretary of State is well known, and Trump supporting patriots across the country recognize the name Brad Raffensperger due to the nationwide attention Georgia received as a result of the 2020 and 2021 elections.
Raffensperger has been known to threaten local county elections superintendent’s and boards if they feel inclined to change their system to comply with certain election laws.
“Georgia counties don’t follow the election laws because of Raffensperger and his staff,” said Field Searcy.
In Dekalb County, Michelle Long Spears, a Democrat candidate for Commissioner and was shocked to see the election results that showed she received zero votes in her own precinct. She knew she voted for herself, and believed her husband also voted for her. When this concern about the accuracy of the Dekalb election was raised, and election integrity advocates called for a hand recount, the Secretary of State’s office opposed them. They conducted a hand recount anyway, and it completely altered the winner in the race! After the hand recount, instead of being in 3rd place Spears came in first. Advocates of election integrity have not forgotten that Brad Raffensperger attempted to block them from conducting that hand recount.
GA GOP Responsive to Republican Voters
The results of the non-binding ballot questions on the 2024 Republican primary ballot voters made it clear that election integrity is a major concern for Republican voters. 64% of Republican primary voters wanted hand marked paper ballots, and 80% wanted clean voter rolls requiring registered voters to renew their registration every four years. The Georgia Republican Party delegates responded.
This Resolution was a last resort after Republican activists have tried every possible way to express their concerns and work with the SOS to establish secure, transparent elections, and have received intense opposition instead of assistance.
The delegates on Saturday collectively said “enough is enough” and cut all ties with Georgia’s current Secretary of State. Raffensperger remains free to run for office as a Democrat or an Independent or join a third party, if they will have him. They concluded that we need to protect the reputation of the Georgia Republican party from an elected official who doesn’t share our commitment to election integrity.
There were 1,713 Republican delegates in attendance Saturday not counting the alternates and guests observing in the back. The Raffensperger resolution was one of several included in a package that was submitted to the body by the resolutions committee under the leadership of Suzi Voyles and with strong support from state Rep. Noel Kahaian.
Getting the party to implement a minimum standard, requiring candidates to share a minimum level of adherence to the GOP platform has been a goal of the GRA for several years. Delegates visiting the GRA vendor table at the convention were eager to sign the GRA petition to block Raffensperger, who is arguably the most distrusted Republican politician in the state.
GRA members and supporters are excited about this massive victory and believe the GAGOP will be stronger and better able to engage and recruit new party members as a result of this action protecting the GOP brand.
This is an example of the GAGOP exercising their constitutional right to the freedom of association.
“The government cannot force a Baptist church to ordain a Hindu or a Muslim as their minister,” said Nathaniel Darnell, GRA President, “and they can’t force the Republican Party to associate with Brad Raffensperger when he relentlessly acts contrary to Republican beliefs and objectives.”
This resolution has the same effect as the Accountability Rule the GRA proposed at the 2023 GOP Convention, and the same effect as the actions taken by the Catoosa GOP in 2024.
While some argue that anyone and everyone should be allowed to claim the label “Republican” regardless of what they believe or how they act, we believe the Republican primary should be reserved for only those candidates who embrace at least a minimum number of the Republican principles outlined in our platform.
“This resolution serves as a warning to all Republican elected officials in Georgia who like to utilize the resources and volunteers in the Republican Party, while simultaneously stomping all over our platform and dismissing the legitimate policy concerns of party activists. We are grateful to all the delegates who voted in favor of the resolution and look forward to assisting the party in implementing other accountability measures to protect the Republican brand and protect Georgians who are being harmed by RINO public policy,” said Darnell.
