Georgia Republican Assembly, Author at The Georgia Republican Assembly

Catoosa Elections Board Tramples Law to Disregard Signed Republican Oath Requirement

April 17, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Election / Government / Issues

Ringgold, GA – Today the Catoosa County Board of Elections voted to illegally qualify County Commission RINO incumbent Chuck Harris — in spite of his failure to sign the loyalty oath to the Republican Party. A formal elector challenge was filed by Britt Fant, a Catoosa GOP member.

State law allows political parties to require a loyalty oath from all candidates wishing to qualify with that party, and the Republican Party of Catoosa County requires that oath. In previous Catoosa cases argued in state court regarding blocking candidates from qualifying, judges have repeatedly affirmed that the political parties have the power to condition qualifying upon whether the candidate has signed and submitted the oath. Yet the Catoosa Board of Elections voted 3-2 to allow Chuck Harris to appear on the Republican Primary ballot without signing the oath.

Because Harris did not sign the oath as required by law, the Catoosa GOP did not include him on their certified list of candidates that the Catoosa Board of Elections publicly posted after the qualifying period ended. State law says that no candidate shall be removed or added after qualifying ends. However, somehow mysteriously Chuck Harris’ name appeared on the Georgia Secretary of State’s web site as a candidate that had duly qualified.

*Joanna Hildreth, Ruth Fant, Alex Johnson, & Britt Fant at the hearing*

“The issue here is – did Chuck Harris do the things under the law and under the party rules which are required? And he didn’t,” said Alex Johnson, attorney for Britt Frant.

The concern about this candidates loyalty to the party is heightened by the fact that the delegates at the 2025 Catoosa convention voted to disassociate with Mr. Harris and articulated their grievances against him in a resolution banning him from the party. The resolution was passed by more than 100 Catoosa GOP delegates and prohibited the party leadership from qualifying Chuck Harris as a Republican. They even banned him from GOP property and from attending any future GOP events!

The resolution says that while serving as a commissioner Chuck Harris failed to uphold Republican principles when

(1) he opposed the freedom to raise chickens in agricultural zones,

(2) when he voted to raise taxes, and

(3) when he violated section 17 of the Catoosa County Charter by profiting off the county through the sale of medical supplies to the county which is prohibited for elected officials.

However, today’s legal challenge was not based upon the resolution passed at the Catoosa GOP convention. Rather this challenge was based upon the candidate’s failure to sign the loyalty oath.

The loyalty oath reads: “I do hereby, swear, or affirm my allegiance to the Republican party.”

Chuck Harris and his attorney Tom Weldon both pretended like Catoosa GOP had mistreated him by not informing him about the loyalty oath missing from his paperwork.

But the law doesn’t require the party to hand him any documents. Furthermore, why should the Republican Party encourage a candidate to sign a loyalty oath to the party when they truly believe the candidate would be guilty of false swearing if he did sign it?

Even those who disagree with Catoosa GOP and believe the delegates are mistaken about Harris’s loyalty to the party would likely acknowledge that the Catoosa GOP volunteers sincerely believe Harris is a Democrat in disguise.

During the hearing, Catoosa Board of Elections member Jim Coles asked excellent questions that forced Harris to acknowledge that he had run for office twice before. He was present at the hearings in 2024 where the legal requirements surrounding candidate qualification were discussed at great length, yet he claims that he did not remember signing the loyalty oath to the Republican Party when he previously ran and did not remember that step being one of the requirements for being qualified on the Republican ballot.

Alex Johnson pointed out in his closing statement that candidate Chuck Harris even included a copy of the loyalty oath required by the party rules in a document he filed on Thursday with the local court the week of qualifying!

“Chuck Harris is an elected official who makes laws — who should know the law,” said Johnson. “He had a copy of it. He filed it in court on Thursday [the week of qualifying]. He didn’t sign it. He didn’t submit it, and his attorney was there and should have known it.“

Indeed, Harris’ attorney, Weldon is a former State Representative who would have also had experience signing the loyalty oath each time he had previously run for office. Weldon was present with Harris at the Catoosa Board of Elections office when Harris’ paperwork was transferred from the Catoosa GOP to the Catoosa Board of Elections, and he had the opportunity to help Harris inspect the paperwork and make sure that the loyalty oath was included. But he did not.

Truth is often stranger than fiction, but it appears highly suspicious that both Harris and his attorney would overlook this essential step in qualification given the fact that Harris still has colleagues engaged in ongoing litigation with Catoosa GOP where their fundamental argument is that they, in 2024, met all the legal requirements to qualify as a Republican candidate: they “filed the paperwork, paid the fee, and signed the oath.” Harris has attended many of those hearings and publicly commented on them.

Weldon argued that Harris was not being treated fairly by the Catoosa GOP since they did not remind him to turn in his loyalty oath. Weldon pointed to other candidates that the Catoosa GOP had sent reminders in order to assure they submitted all the required documents in time. But the Catoosa GOP had already communicated publicly that they did not want to qualify Harris and so he had no reasonable expectation that they would go above and beyond to remind him of his obligation to turn in a loyalty oath — particularly since they had already stated that they did not believe any such loyalty oath would be anything other than disingenuous.

“The other side is mocking civil rights law every time they say ‘you need to be treated equally. You can’t have disparate treatment.’ That is talking about race and sex discrimination,” said Alex Johnson. “It’s not talking about political parties. Political parties have a right to associate with people who support their platform. That’s the point of a political party is to get your platform enacted. The Republican Party doesn’t want Chuck Harris because Chuck Harris isn’t supporting the platform! Rightly or wrongly, that is what came out of their convention.”

Alex continued: “I think Republicans and Democrats both agree that we should follow the rule of law. The rule of law is what has been presented today by us. … There is no requirement in the law that the Republican Party provide anything to candidates. That is not in the law.”

“We have to have parties that treat people the same,” said Tom Weldon, attorney for Chuck Harris.

Weldon argued that Catoosa GOP was “an acting governmental agency” while conducting candidate qualifying, because the party receives a portion of the qualification fee paid by the candidates, and therefore did not have a legal right to discriminate. This theory is absurd and not supported by law or precedent. A political party does not temporarily become a governmental agency just because they are allowed by law to conduct candidate qualifying. Legal precedent shows clearly that political parties have the right to not associate with candidates with whom they do not wish to associate. This was affirmed just last year by the 11th Circuit Court ruling which stated: “[A] political party’s right to freedom of association encompasses the right to exclude candidate[s] in the party primary in order to protect itself from those with adverse political principles. (Duke v. Cleland).”

If Weldon’s argument is true, and political parties cannot discriminate in which candidates they qualify, then Socialist Bernie Sanders could run on the Republican primary while spouting socialism. This would mean a Libertarian could also run on the Democrat ballot and undermine their platform and destroy their credibility on issues that are important to Democrat voters. This would result in chaos.

Weldon’s argument displays a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of political parties. If a party has no ideological boundaries by which they discriminate, they cease to be a political party. If everyone meets the definition of Republican, then the term has no meaning. Your “big tent” ceases to be a tent at all.

“It would be atrocious for the government to say that the Democrat Party has to support Donald Trump. It would be atrocious for the government to say that the Democrat Party has to qualify some Trump supporter to run in this county as a Democrat. That wouldn’t be right. That wouldn’t be fair.”

On the vote as to whether to qualify Chuck Harris as a Republican without requiring him to sign a loyalty oath by the deadline, Jim Coles and Jennifer Motter were the only two members of the Catoosa Board of Elections who voted “no.” Harris was allowed on the primary ballot by a vote of 3 to 2. Coles and Motter are the Republican-appointed members of the county Board of Elections.

It is disappointing that the Board of Elections would dismiss the clear text of the state code and override the will of a majority of about 200 delegates at the Catoosa Convention. They wanted to stop publicly associating with Chuck Harris. Harris indicated he was willing to sign the loyalty oath today, but the Catoosa Elections Board didn’t even make Chuck Harris’ qualification conditional upon his signing the loyalty oath today.

Republicans across America are becoming increasingly concerned about undercover Democrats running under the Republican label. We saw it in Ohio, and North Carolina just recently, where self-identified Democrat progressives attempted to run on the Republican primary. Nevertheless, the Catoosa BOE was willing to force a candidate on the Republican ballot while the party delegates go down kicking and screaming that they don’t trust he is a Republican.

“We are disappointed to see the Board of Elections once again violate our freedom of association rights guaranteed by the First Amendment,” said Joanna Hildreth, the Catoosa GOP Chairwoman. “This is America. Just as the government can’t force a Baptist church to accept a Muslim as a pastor, the government should not force Catoosa GOP to associate with someone who does not share our values and didn’t even sign an oath of allegiance.”

If Chuck Harris is loyal to the Republican Party, why would he ignore the party platform and raise taxes?

If Chuck Harris is loyal to the party, why would he ignore the pleas of party activists to enjoy the basic freedom to keep chickens on their own property?

If Harris is loyal to the Republican party why would he not honor the will of 100+ Catoosa GOP delegates who didn’t want his name on their ballot? Why didn’t he try to please them while he was in office before they felt the need to take such an extreme measure as to demand he “cease and desist” from calling himself a Republican?

It took a lot of nerve for the Catoosa Board of Elections to do this and was a huge insult to the Republican Party of Catoosa County. This sent a message to the party that if the BOE is convinced that someone is a Republican, who cares what the 100+ Catoosa delegates who operate the party think?

But the Catoosa County Republican Party is not discouraged. Britt Fant intends to challenge today’s decision in an appeal to Superior Court.

Click to watch attorney Alex Johnson’s closing arguments at the Catoosa Board of Elections hearing.

GA GOP Delegates Demand Hearing After Raffensperger Violates Law to Approve Illegal Qualification

April 9, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Campaign / Election / Issues

Atlanta, GA – Today Brandyn James and Harvey Wysong filed a “Writ of Mandamus “ petitioning Fulton County Superior Court to compel Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to hold a hearing for their electoral challenge to the qualification of Brad Raffensperger as a gubernatorial candidate in the Republican primary. This case is unique in that Raffensperger is both the candidate in question and the elected official responsible to facilitate electoral challenges whenever a voter asserts a candidate did not meet the legal requirements to qualify for a specific office.

The motion claims that Brad Raffensperger violated state law ( O.C.G.A. §21-2-5) when his office “refused to perform its duties in referring a challenge to the qualifications of a candidate for governor to an administrative law judge.”

The Secretary of State (SoS) office replied by letter on March 30th stating that there was no legal challenge and no action would be taken. State law does not give the SoS the authority to summarily dismiss a candidate challenge without a hearing.

The challenge asserts that the qualification of Brad Raffensperger by the Republican Party was illegal and an abuse of authority since the party administrators who conducted the qualification had been strictly forbidden by the highest authority in the GAGOP – the state convention – to qualify Brad Raffensperger as a Republican candidate due to his anti-Republican record.

“Raffensperger’s record is inexcusable!” said Brandyn James.

Wysong and James believe the GA GOP had good reason to ban Raffensperger from the Republican ballot. They cite examples of him trusting leftist Democrat non-profits to provide voting machines and elections softwar e.

Also they point to an Amicus Brief the SoS filed opposing election integrity advocates’ effort to examine Fulton County ballots that appeared to be counterfeit, and other “basic, common sense election integrity efforts” to which the SoS has been hostile.

“If someone repeatedly plays Benedict Arnold and betrays his own party and the party’s commitment to fair, honest elections, the party shouldn’t be expected to accept his candidacy for the next election—and we didn’t,” said Wysong and James in an online fundraiser campaign for their legal battle.

They further expose that “Brad Raffensperger was responsible for allowing $45 Million from a Zuckerberg funded Democrat non-profit (called “Zuckerbucks”) to influence Georgia elections.”

“Fool me once, shame on you,” said Brandyn James. “Fool me twice, shame on me… We had to do something!”

*Ted Metz speaking at the 2026 State GRA Endorsement Convention*

Interestingly, when Garret Ashley filed a similar candidate challenge last month against Ted Metz, a candidate for Secretary of State, claiming he was affiliated with the Libertarian Party, not the Republican Party, Ashley received a hearing without question. Metz defended himself and the challenge was not sustained, and Metz officially qualified as a Republican candidate. However, Ashley’s case received a hearing even though there was not nearly as strong a case for his challenge as there is here against Raffensperger’s candidacy. There was no documented majority vote by hundreds of Republican Party delegates banning Metz from qualifying as a Republican for any office, as there was with Raffensperger. Why the double standard? It seems obvious.

Some have claimed the motion passed by the GA GOP Convention banning Raffensperger was illegal and therefore the party had no responsibility to enforce it. However, constitutional rights, like the right to Freedom of Association, supercede state law.

“If their view of the law is correct and the directive illegal,” said GRA 1st Vice President Nick Cooper, “then that resolution kicking Geoff Duncan out of the Republican Party was completely meaningless — meaning that Geoff has some kind of ‘right’ to run as a Republican! If she wanted, Stacey Abrams could show up and qualify to run as a Republican, and there would be no legal means for the party itself to stop her!”

This is, of course, absurd. There is no “right” to run as a Republican anymore than there is a “right” to be a pastor of a specific church when the church doesn’t want you and voted to ban you. The government cannot force a political party to accept candidates who do not represent their ideology.

Fox News reported this week that the Ohio Supreme Court blocked a RINO candidate who was “caught publicly admitting that his candidacy was part of a calculated strategy to run Democrats as Republicans in “deep red districts” to “get a foot in the door.””

In North Carolina, a candidate named Kate Barr ran as a Republican but stated: “I’m not a real Republican… I’m running as a progressive in a Republican primary.” This kind of contradiction naturally infuriates real Republicans, who believe in the principles of the party and the timeless truths that shaped the party platform.

Why do some Georgia Republicans continue to ignore this problem and oppose accountability in the party? Political parties in other countries – countries with far less freedom – like Indi a and the U K are not at all ashamed to expect ideological adherence from candidates representing their party, and remove those who deviate from the stated ideology of the party. This is a fundamental and we contend a necessary aspect of what it means to be a political party.

“This discussion is over the idea of whether someone has a right to run as a Republican — not whether they want to run at all,” said Cooper. “It would be perfectly fine for Brad Raffensperger to run as an Independent.”

Brandyn James and Harvey Wysong have courageously stepped up to take on this legal battle, but they cannot do it by themselves. They need their fellow Georgia patriots to support them. Can you pitch in to help cover their court costs and attorney fees? If you would like to support this effort you can donate to their GiveSendGo her e:

Rick Jackson Targets Trump

April 8, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Campaign

The following article is primarily a guest post from GRA member from Chatham County, Jerilyn Gibbs:

1. Rick Jackson’s true target : TRUMP and the MAGA Movement

Defeating Trump-endorsed & GRA-endorsed Burt Jones is Jackson’s path to discrediting the power of Trump’s endorsements. If successful, Democrats would frame the Georgia governor’s race as a referendum on Trump — and Jackson knows it.

2. Jackson is not and never has been a MAGA Republican. Proof:

He donated to Liz Chaney’s PAC weeks after she had joined Democrats in impeaching Trump.

He built his fortune through nearly $1 billion in lucrative state contracts while donating heavily to Brian Kemp, Brad Raffensperger, and Geoff Duncan (now a Democrat).

Jackson is suspected of ties to the out of state dark money behind the smear campaign against Jones (via “Georgian for Integrity,” now facing formal ethics charges). Even if not directly tied, he has amplified the same attacks.

This is why the bipartisan Georgia Senate just voted 50-1 to pass a bill empowering the Georgia Ethics Commission with new subpoenas power against out-of-state individuals and organizations suspected of violating Georgia’s campaign finance and disclosure laws.

3. The smears distort Jones’ long-held support for rural healthcare.

Jones advocated reforming outdated Certificate of Need rules that have long badly needed rural hospitals statewide – not a special favor for Butts County. The attacks focus on a proposed hospital on land partially owned by Jones’ father. Jones response:

His support reflects a broad policy goal for better rural medical access, not a carve-out; early on, no specific site was designated.
Jones owns no part of the land or project and therefore has no direct personal benefit (no proven quid pro quo).

4. The bottom line: This is a smear campaign by someone who cannot compete on the issues. Jackson kicked off his campaign with lies and hypocrisy (including his own datacenter investment in Texas while attacking Jones over a nonexistent one on family land). How can voters trust him to advance the MAGA agenda?

Congratulations to Our Endorsed Candidates!

March 23, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Candidates / conventions

Congratulations to all the Republican candidates who won the GRA’s endorsement this past weekend at the 2026 GRA State Endorsement Convention in Gainesville!

Thank you for everyone who participated in our endorsement convention as well. We had a great time interacting with many candidates for various offices, voting on who to endorse, and passing resolutions.

GRA conventions have been a great opportunity for fellow grassroots patriots from across the state to network and be encouraged that they are not the only citizens who are passionate about ensuring the Republican Party actually stands for the policies and principles it professes!

Here is a list of the candidates the membership chose by a two-thirds majority to endorse:

State-Wide Endorsed Candidates

• Governor: Burt Jones
• Lt. Governor: Greg Dolezal
• Secretary of State: Kelvin King
• U.S. Senate: Mike Collins
• State School Superintendent: Mesha Mainor
• Public Service Commissioner: Carolyn Roddy

Endorsed Candidates for Congressional Office

• CD 01: Eugene Yu
• CD 04: Jim Duffie
• CD 09: Andrew Clyde
• CD 11: Chris Mora
• CD 12: Tori Branum

Check out our Facebook page to see images of all of our endorsed candidates! You can also observe there all of the resolutions passed at the convention, and see other photo highlights!

Attendees enjoyed hearing from Burt Jones about some of his accomplishments in the Georgia legislature and about his commitment to voter integrity. Jones reminded the audience that he was one of the alternate electors unjustly targeted by Fani Willis.

“I’m the only person in this race,” said Jones, “who has a business background, a legislative background, and is endorsed by President Trump, is endorsed by Turning Point USA…”

“If there is a silver lining about this race for Governor, it is the fact that it’s going to give us a new Secretary of State. Right?” said Jones.

The audience enjoyed hearing from three of the candidates for Secretary of State: Vernon Jones, Ted Metz, and Kelvin King.

*Vernon Jones speaks at the GRA Convention.*

King highlighted the fact that the scanners that scan ballots are not reading the text on the ballot, but are reading a QR code, which is not verifiable by the human eye. He reminded the audience that he was endorsed by the GRA when he ran for U.S. Senate and that his wife is known for being a fighter on the State Election Board.

“We all know that there are problems in the Secretary of State’s office,” said Kelvin King. “Right now we don’t have trusted elections, obviously. The Secretary of State’s office is responsible for our elections, they’re responsible for our election system, our elections, and our voter rules. We gotta clean up all of those.”

Attendees heard from four of the candidates for Lt. Governor: Sen. Blake Tillery, Dr. Brenda Nelson-Porter, Rep. David Clark, and Sen. Greg Dolezal.

Dolezal noted: “As you consider your endorsement today, I would point you to your scorecard. Last year my score was 98, the year before that 92, the year before that 94. …You will see scores on there in the 50s, from my opponents – you will see scores in the 40s!”

The audience voted overwhelmingly to endorse Greg Dolezal for Lt. Governor. We are grateful to all of the candidates who took time to share with our members.

“I’m proud to say that the GRA endorsed strong candidates who won’t compromise on their conservative principles and will follow through on their small-government platforms — unlike the RINO uniparty establishment figures they’re running against!” said GRA 1st Vice President Nick Cooper.

“These folks are legitimately good and principled candidates running for important offices in Georgia who won’t sell out to big-money interests.”

You can also now watch the speeches from the candidates captured at the 2026 GRA State Endorsement Convention on our YouTube channel:

Watch the video of Burt Jones’ speech.

Watch the video of Greg Dolezal’s speech.

Watch the video of Kelvin King’s speech.

Candidate speeches are still being uploaded to the channel, so check back to see more over the next several days.

Now comes the work of helping to campaign for and support our endorsed candidates in the up-coming May 19th Republican Primary. Thankfully, most of the races will not have to endure the chaos of a jungle primary as we recently experienced in the 14th Congressional District. We urge all of our GRA members from across the state to do everything you can to help our endorsed candidates win their Republican nominations!

Anything you can do to contribute can make a world of difference: Donate, put a candidate’s sign in your yard, phone-bank, canvass door-to-door, sign-wave, or more! Let us know if you would like to be put in touch with a particular campaign, and we will be happy to connect you.

Two GOP Delegates Legally Challenge Raffensperger’s Qualification in Republican Primary, Claiming “Illegal” and “Abuse of Authority”

March 21, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Candidates / Election / Government

Atlanta, GA — On Friday, two Republican Party members, Harvey Wysong from Whitfield County and Brandyn James from Catoosa County filed a legal challeng e to the Republican Party’s qualification of current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s candidacy for Governor. The challenge is based on the motion passed by the Georgia Republican Part y state convention last Summer that officially instructed party employees and officers to not allow Brad Raffensperger to qualify for office on the Republican primary ballot. Brandyn James is a 31-year-old African-American and Harvey Wysong is a retired Marine veteran. Both are Republican activists from Northwest Georgia.

The challenge states “The qualification of Brad Raffensperger as a Republican candidate by Georgia Republican Party staff or officers was arbitrary, characterized by an abuse of discretion…”

“The Georgia Republican Party has a constitutional right to associate with whom it wishes, especially who it qualifies to run as a candidate for public office through its party ballot access. As a corollary, the Georgia Republican Party has a constitutional right not to associate with Brad Raffensperger. The actions of the staff or officers of the Georgia Republican Party have violated the Georgia Republican’s Party right of association.“

*Brandyn James waves signs outside the Ringgold Courthouse Catoosa GOP.*

“I hope that this challenge results in the overturning of Mr. Raffensperger’s qualification,” said Brandyn James.

Georgia law § 21-2-5 requires this challenge to be considered by the Secretary of State, and then the elector may appeal that decision to a judge.

Some would suggest this effort is futile since Brad Raffensperger is both the candidate in question, and the government official being appealed to for remedy, and he is unlikely to disqualify his own candidacy for Governor. One would hope that an elected official who wants to operate with integrity would recuse himself from deciding a challenge involving his own candidacy (or that of his rival), due to his conflict of interest, and defer the question to another authority.

Wysong and James see this challenge to be the first step in the legal process, and probably want to be able to use this challenge as proof that they pursued all their options in search of a remedy.

“There’s a Latin maxim, ‘Non se jugulabit porcus,’ meaning, a hog won’t butcher itself,” said Wysong. “If that happens, we’ll have to turn elsewhere for relief. We knew that at the outset.”

Brandyn James has been a supporter of Catoosa GOP and enjoyed a front row seat to their legal battle for freedom of association these last two years.

“To those who say that this effort is futile, I simply ask: if not now, then when? If not us, then who?” said James.

Election integrity has become a central goal and major priority of the Republican Party of Georgia as evidenced by the numerous resolutions passed by party delegates at various levels over the last 5 years.

Brad Raffensperger has a record of opposing basic election integrity policies that Republicans have been clamoring for in their resolutions and goals. He actively resisted attempts to audit other races when the Dominion Voting System declared the wrong winners in the 2022 Dekalb District 2 Commission primary.

He filed an Amicus Brief in the Fulton County counterfeit ballot case to prevent citizen plaintiffs from examining the ballots.

Raffensperger also allowed Zuckerberg’s CTCL to provide $45 Million dollars, called “Zuckerbucks” in politically partisan funds to Georgia’s counties.

He employed Voting Works, a company receiving funds from George Soros, to conduct the hand count audit of the 2020 Presidential election.

The list of Raffensperger’s infuriating betrayals of the Republican Party is lengthy. It is no wonder delegates at the 2025 state GOP convention were willing to take such an extreme measure as to ban him from running for any office on the Republican primary ballot again.

The resolution passed by the GOP delegate s stated:

“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,

*Contrary to the order of the delegates at the convention, Brad Raffensperger was allowed to qualify as a candidate on the Republican Primary ballot.*

“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.”

James and Wysong argue in their candidate challenge that qualifying Brad Raffensperger with the “Republican” label is “misleading the public.”

Furthermore they write: “If non-republicans use the Georgia Republican Party brand in their quest for political power, and regularly betray the party’s principles and interests, it hurts all Republican candidates.”

The complaint cites both the official Rules of the Georgia Republican Party as well as Roberts Rules of Order. The challenges argued that the staff and/or officers of the GAGOP did not posses the authority to certify Raffensperger and violated the chain of command specified in the Rules of the Georgia Republican Party – Rule 2.1.

Both Wysong and James mention in the complaint that they were among the duly qualified delegates who served in the 2025 Georgia Republican Party State Convention, and voted with the majority to prevent Brad Raffensperger from being allowed to qualify as a Republican in future primaries.

“This fact undergirds my standing to make this legal complaint,” they say.

While some have suggested that resolutions are not binding and are mere toothless “expressions of sentiment”, Roberts Rules of Order says differently. Roberts Rules of Order section 4:4 says clearly that resolutions are motions and binding. “For more important or complex questions, or when greater formality is desired, he presents the motion in the form of a resolution. . .”

The candidate challenge says: “By ignoring these rules of the Georgia Republican Party and working in concert with the state government to qualify Brad Raffensperger, they have done exactly what is forbidden by the Rules of the Georgia Republican Party and the First Amendment – namely, forcing the Georgia Republican Party to associate with a candidate that it did not want and who does not uphold its values.”

Colton Moore Thanks GRA Volunteers

March 11, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Campaign / Election

Last Tuesday, the GRA’s endorsed candidate for the 14th Congressional District race, former State Sen. Colton Moore came in third place out of 17 candidates! Colton was severely out-spent in the race — even by those who garnered fewer votes than him on election night. He spent roughly half a million dollars in comparison to Clay Fuller’s roughly $2 million (including PAC money spent on his behalf) and Democrat Shawn Harris’ $4 million. Both President Donald Trump and the late Charlie Kirk have praised Colton for his “courage”!

Colton ran a clean campaign. However, some crude and unsubstantiated attacks on one of Colton’s opponents were sent out as text blasts by an unknown entity late Monday evening — and made to look as if they came from Colton’s campaign. Colton assured voters they were not from his campaign. The GRA also decried the absurdly exaggerated texts, which were clearly designed to hurt Colton more than the other candidate.

But the race is not over. Colton has also qualified in this race to run in the May 19th Republican Primary. At the Watch Party last Tuesday evening, Colton gave this thank-you message to all the many GRA members who volunteered over the last five weeks for his campaign, door-knocking, sign-waving, and phone-banking:

“There are no greater patriots in the state than GRA members,” said Moore. “You stood fast against any type of adversity and any type of threat to our freedom. You work harder than anyone else… Stay in the fight because, ultimately, the next generation depends on it!”

Democrat Shawn Harris will now face a runoff with the candidate who came in second place on April 7th. Colton stressed how important it is for Democrat Harris not to win this election. “I’m definitely going to be supporting whoever the Republican nominee is,” Colton said at the GRA 14th District Regional Endorsement Convention. “I guarantee you that. Because these Democrats, this guy [Harris] claims to be a cattleman, [but] he can’t even define what a man or a woman is! I mean, these people are on looney-tune land.”

The candidate who wins the April 7th runoff will serve the remainder of Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s term for only this year. Many of the same candidates who ran in the special election will face off again in the Republican May 19th primary, and whoever wins that and the general election in November will represent the 14th Congressional District for the next two years. The 14th Congressional District has been considered a ruby-red Republican district, so any loss to a Democrat there would be shocking.

Raffensperger Attempts To Whitewash His Record by Persecuting GRA President

February 28, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Government / Issues

Just one week before candidate qualifying, where Brad Raffensperger must appear before the Georgia Republican Party and should legally be denied a place on the Republican primary ballot, due to his unethical, un-Republican record of governance, the Secretary of State, now candidate for Governor, has published false and misleading accusations against the Georgia Republican Assembly (GRA) President Nathaniel Darnell as well as a hefty fine in relation to the sudden collapse of First Liberty Building and Loan.

The order makes no mention of the fact that Nathaniel’s family are victims of the alleged Ponzi scheme awaiting restitution from the appointed Receiver.

“Nathaniel really believed in First Liberty and we all trusted the Frosts,” said Patricia Darnell, Nathaniel’s Mother. “When we lost our investment, that was Nathaniel’s inheritance. He wouldn’t have intentionally lost his own inheritance if he had known what they were doing.”

“I can’t tell you how it breaks a mothers heart to see her son falsely accused like this.”

Alex Johnson, GRA Chairman says this fact “is conveniently ignored by Raffensperger’s office’s independent and misleading attacks on Mr. Darnell with unproven claims in Raffensperger’s filings/correspondence.”

Nathaniel was unaware that First Liberty was allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme at the time he innocently made referrals to his clients who he in good faith believed could be well served and benefited by their loan agreements. This is why he trusted First Liberty enough to recommend them to his own family members. For years, he saw First Liberty faithfully pay their interest payments on time, just like previous customers had testified to Nathaniel they had for them.

*One of the emails ignored in the order*

Raffensperger has in his possession numerous emails and texts from First Liberty employees to Nathaniel showing — in writing — that Nathaniel was misled and deceived about their loan agreements, yet Raffensperger chooses to ignore this evidence of Nathaniel’s innocence.

“Since at least 2021, the Georgia Republican Assembly (GRA) has been opposed to Mr. Raffensperger lying to voters by attempting to qualify for elected office as a Republican,” said Johnson. “Last year, GRA members and other good Republicans successfully supported a motion within the GA GOP that prohibits the Republican Party from qualifying him as a Republican.”

“I have massive respect for Nathaniel Darnell,” wrote Ray Blankenship, a Republican volunteer activist in Northwest Georgia. “We all know that Nathaniel had been working for years to bring attention to Raffy’s Democrat tendencies and his Resolution was passed in the STATE CONVENTION to keep Raffy from having our most beloved ‘R’ by his name. I guess when you get a target on your back, you must be over the target yourself. Praying for Nathaniel’s sweet family.”

The GRA has been openly critical of Raffensperger’s record since 2020 and Nathaniel is not only a representative of the organization, but was one of the delegates at the microphone urging the passage of the resolution to ban Raffensperger at the 2025 Georgia GOP Convention. He even made the motion on the floor to adopt the resolution. Secretary Raffensperger has an inherent conflict of interest in his relationship to the GRA President, a conflict that Nathaniel’s attorney Doug Gilfillan formally objected to in December.

“The administration of the law . . . should, like Caesar’s wife, be above suspicion, and should be free from all temptation, bias, or prejudice . . . .” Nichols v. State, 17 Ga. App. 593, 87 S.E. 817, 821 (1916). The involvement in state action by a public official laboring under a personal conflict of interest like Secretary Raffensperger’s conflict here is improper. As a result, Secretary Raffensperger should have recused himself in this matter from any activity, participation, and decisions under O.C.G.A. § 10-5-71, pursuant to which his office is conducting this investigation.

Article I, Section II, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution (1983) provides that, “[a]ll government, of right, originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole. Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people and are at all times amenable to them.” See https://sos.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/state_constitution.pdf. The Supreme Court of Georgia has held that this provision enshrines the principle that “[a]ll public officers, within whatever branch and at whatever level of our government, and whatever be their private vocations, are trustees of the people, and do accordingly labor under every disability and prohibition imposed by law upon trustees relative to the making of personal financial gain from the discharge of their trusts.” Crozer v. Reichert, 275 Ga. 118, 121 (2002) (quoting Georgia Dep’t of Hum. Res. v. Sistrunk, 249 Ga. 543, 547 (1982)). Georgia courts have applied this provision to disqualify public officials where a public official is alleged to have even an indirect financial benefit. See Vickers v. Coffee County, 255 Ga. 659 (1986) (commissioners’ selection among alternative tracts of land for sale to county invalidated because selection of a different site might affect adversely value of property owned by voting commissioner); Wyman v. Popham, 252 Ga. 247 (1984) (allegations of indirect financial interest on the part of two commissioners required hearing to determine validity of commissioners’ vote); Olley Valley Ests., Inc. v. Fussell, 232 Ga. 779, 784 (1974) (“The question the superior court must answer is whether, under all the evidence, Commissioner Smith had a direct or indirect financial interest in the outcome of the zoning vote-an interest which was not shared by the public generally, and which was more than remote or speculative.”). There is a financial connection between the Secretary’s political activities, his campaign for Governor as a Republican (both of which clearly implicate his personal financial interests), and the First Liberty matter.

Attorneys are questioning the constitutionality of the Secretary’s order for attempting to impose a significant fine when there has been no jury trial. Brad Raffensperger has acted as both judge and jury in this matter.

False Accusations Against Nathaniel

Raffensperger falsely claims Nathaniel was “preying on investors,” but if someone in good-faith believed First Liberty was a legitimate business, as many people clearly did over the last 30+ years, offering a legitimate loan generating real interest that would benefit the investor, how could that be described as “predatory”?

*Former Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens was one of many who recommended First Liberty to Nathaniel.*

Nathaniel believed he was acting in the best interests of his clients with the information he had at the time, and there was good faith basis for his beliefs, since First Liberty had been in business for about 30 years, and had been recommended to him by numerous people, including a CPA, businessmen, previous elected officials, ministry and church leaders, and even the past Insurance Commissioner of Georgia Ralph Hudgens. WSB radio host Erick Erickson even publicly advertised for them.

Raffensperger’s order implies that Nathaniel took in excessive pay. However, the rate offered by First Liberty was within the average for the financial services industry: 2 percent or less paid by First Liberty. It didn’t raise eyebrows and would not have incentivized anyone to knowingly participate in a fraudulent scheme. Nathaniel sought to follow his firm’s guidance by disclosing to them that he had started an outside business to raise capital, and to work with other businesses that were raising capital, for a real estate venture. All funds from First Liberty went to that business, which finally raised enough to build their family’s first active rental property.

*Archived screenshot from First Liberty’s old web site*

Raffensperger reveals his bias and his conflict of interest in this severe order that ignores facts and evidence that prove Nathaniel is one of the many deceived victims of the alleged Ponzi scheme. Furthermore there are numerous people who were more closely involved with First Liberty than Nathaniel, such as employees of the business, who have not yet received any punishment from Raffensperger at all. Brad Raffensperger refuses to accept the possibility that there were any honest or innocent explanations for Nathaniel’s actions.

This situation raises questions, such as:

(1) Since First Liberty advertised broadly on public radio and on their website for years, how did the Secretary of State’s office not discover the problems with First Liberty sooner?

(2) If Raffensperger, the SEC, and the IRS all were clueless about anything being amiss at First Liberty, how do they expect Nathaniel to have known?

These false accusations against the GRA President issued the week before candidate qualifying seem to be a pathetic attempt to help Raffensperger regain the respect of Republican voters who have seen his failures and lack of interest in election integrity.

UPDATE: Now you can help support Nathaniel’s legal defense at GiveSendGo!

Now It’s Raffensperger’s Turn

Now all eyes are watching to see what will happen when Brad Raffensperger shows up to try and qualify to run as a Republican candidate for Governor. The resolution passed at the 2025 convention stated: “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…”

Politicians are threatened by parties exercising their freedom of association rights. It is therefore likely that the exorbitant fine and penalties Raffensperger’s office is attempting to impose on Nathaniel was carefully timed to discredit the GRA, and to make GOP volunteers too scared to follow through on the directive of the convention body.

“We hope that all victims of the alleged ponzi scheme receive justice and are fully compensated, while the political industry opportunists like Mr. Raffensperger cease trying to trick voters into thinking they are entitled to Republican votes, support, or ballot access,” said GRA Chairman Alex Johnson.

F.B.I. Presents Warrant & Seizes Evidence from 2020 Elections in Fulton

January 29, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Government / Issues

Union City, GA – In a surprising shake up on Wednesday, the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County elections warehouse at 5600 Campbellton Fairburn Road in Union City, Georgia. They reportedly seized approximately 700 boxes of election materials associated with the 2020 General Election.

GRA-member Salleigh Grubbs appeared on the scene with fellow Georgia State Board of Elections member Dr. Janice Johnston to observe the investigation, but were denied access by Fulton officials.

“We are very thankful to see the FBI here,” said Salleigh Grubbs. “They’ve had a forklift going in and out and now they have brought in what appears to be a mobile command center for the FBI.”

“All we want is fair elections,” said Grubbs. “That’s all we are asking for. This is a non-partisan issue. This is about free and fair elections in the United States of America.”

The warehouse containing the election records is massive, roughly 600,000 square feet.

“The best I know, the documents are contained in about 700 boxes,” said Dr. Johnston. “We have no other choice than to recommend that all 700 boxes be removed and taken out of the hands of Fulton County so that we can look for the documents that we’ve been looking for for years and have been unable to get Fulton County to provide or produce or even try to find.”

Johnston has requested a subpoena from Fulton County for the records back in October 2024, a request that has been met with repeated obstruction until now.

“We are looking for those tabulator tapes, we are looking for numbered voter lists, we would like to know who was eligible to vote for the 2020 election. We are looking for documents to prove that actual ballot boxes – that they claimed produced thousands of votes – were actually real ballot boxes,” said Johnston.

“The whole purpose of this is to look for areas of inconsistency and irregularities, to understand what happened, if it did happen, so it will not happen in future elections. That is the point of the State Election Board’s investigation and participation in this.”

GRA Election Integrity Action Group Chairman Jason Frazier, who recently produced a viral video exposing thousands of voter irregularities in Fulton county, was also at the scene along with Garland Favorito of VoterGA, who sued Fulton County back in 2021 and has long-awaited this day.

“We just want clean voter rolls, clean elections, and whoever wins wins,” said Frazier. “They don’t want us to see the ballots, they don’t want us to see the ballot envelopes, they don’t want us to see who voted, they don’t want us to see the voter rolls: they don’t want us to see anything!”

The lack of cooperation from Fulton officials has only heightened suspicions. If everything was fair and honest, why not allow an inspection of the ballots? What do they have to hide?

This is a huge victory for the dedicated grass-roots volunteer citizens across Georgia who have been calling for election integrity reform in the state, including Garland Favorito, Jason Frazier, and Phillip Davis and many others.

*Click to watch Jason Frazier’s interview on Bannon’s War Room .*

On Thursday, State Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Forsyth) took to the well of the Senate to address this shocking development. “Let’s stop this charade of ‘the most perfect, most secure election in history,'” he said. “It’s darn near past time for Fulton County to clean up their voter rolls!”

The DOJ sued Fulton County last month seeking access to ballots related to the 2020 election. The county is fighting the lawsuit, saying the DOJ has not made a valid argument for accessing them.

“Under Georgia law, ballots are typically destroyed after two years,” said GRA-member and former GA GOP Chairman David Shafer. Shafer was subjected to “law-fare” for years after the 2020 election as an alternate elector. “But thanks to a lawsuit filed by Garland Favorito, Caroline Jeffords and others, the Fulton County ballots from 2020 were preserved. It appears that we will finally get answers.”

Joseph Rossi and Kevin Moncla also deserve special appreciation due to their relentless contributions to the investigation. Under the Biden administration, the FBI persecuted Moncla in late 2023 for daring to question Georgia’s 2020 election. According to Moncla, “Fulton County unlawfully failed to preserve the ballot images for all in-person voting.” Despite Republicans being in power in Georgia, no one in the state would cooperate with Johnston’s subpoena so Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice sued for the same records on October 30, 2025.

“It’s a uni-party. The Republican establishment and the Democrat establishment work together,” said Garland Favarito.

The GRA exists to combat the uni-party, because RINO governance and public policy is equally as harmful to Georgia families as Democrat governance.

“We still have challenges in obtaining cooperation from the Secretary of State’s office,” said Dr. Johnston.

Rossi’s presentation at the January 21, 2026 State Election Board meeting was eye-opening. His presentation cited longstanding discrepancies documented in the complaint and argued that unresolved issues from SEB2021-181 and subsequent investigations could undermine public confidence if left unexamined.

Notably, in spring 2022 Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger admitted Fulton County scanned ballots twice.

GRA members are delighted by this move on the part of federal investigators and are hopeful that the public will finally get answers to their lingering suspicions about what really happened in Fulton County in 2020.

GRA members are encouraged that their efforts have not been in vain. The many hours spent attending long meetings of the State Election Board, the election integrity rallies, the press conferences, the hours spent examining election processes and voter rolls, the GOP conventions that passed election integrity resolutions, the citizen advocacy at the Capitol – all of these efforts combined to create the public awareness of Georgia’s election integrity problems and finally attracted the attention of federal authorities who are willing to investigate.

We are no longer a small voice crying in the wilderness. Election integrity activists finally feel heard, and the vindication is sweet. GRA members continue to organize and collaborate together to bring about constructive reform to Georgia government, knowing that we are stronger together when like-minded patriots are connected across the state. We are indeed the “Republican wing of the Republican party” and we look forward to watching this investigation unfold.

Registration Now Open for the March 21st GRA State Convention!

January 28, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in events

The GRA welcomes you to come hear from all Republican candidates for state-wide office (and many local candidates) at the March 21st GRA State Convention! All Republican candidates who legally qualify to run for state-wide office will be welcome to present. We also are inviting Congressional candidates and many candidates from local races. The state-wide races include candidates for U.S. Senate, Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, and Secretary of State such as:

• Burt Jones • Greg Dolezal • Steve Gooch • Blake Tillery • Kelvin King • Andrew Clyde • Mike Collins • Earl Carter • Derek Dooley • Chris Carr • Clark Dean • Vernon Jones • Bill Cowsert • Brian Strickland •

Kelvin King and Vernon Jones, candidates for Secretary of State, are among of the first state-wide candidates who have already confirmed their intent to be there!

Anyone may attend and have lunch with us at this event, but only GRA members may vote on endorsement. The audience will also have the opportunity to submit questions.

After hearing from the candidates, GRA members from across Georgia will vote to determine which candidates might earn the Georgia Republican Assembly’s endorsement in contested primaries. As always, it takes a two-thirds majority of the voting members at our convention for a candidate to earn our endorsement. Not only can such an endorsement be used to promote a candidate’s campaign, but it also provides an incentive for GRA members in the area to volunteer time and provide financial contributions to help endorsed candidates.

In order to vote on the endorsement, you must be a fully vetted and approved GRA member no later than February 19th!It takes sometimes a few weeks for our New Membership Committee to vet new applicants for GRA membership, so if you’re not a member already, apply soon! Click here to join the GRA!

Folks who register extra early for the convention save money! Save $30 with the Super Early Bird Pre-registration price only available until February 7th. Click here to register .

For questions, contact the GRA’s 2nd Vice President Lois Finlay.

Register for the 2026 GRA State Endorsement Convention on March 21st.

Colton Moore Overwhelmingly Wins GRA Endorsement

January 19, 2026 by Georgia Republican Assembly in Candidates / conventions / events

Click to watch this short highlight video of the event.

Rome, GA — On Saturday GRA members from counties across the 14th Congressional District gathered to hear from candidates who qualified to run as Republicans on the ballot in the March 10th Special Election to replace MTG. Of the 17 qualified Republican candidates in this race, nine candidates participated and spoke at the event, including:

Christian Hurd
Colton Moore
Eric Cunningham
Jared Craig
Jenna Turnipseed
Marty Brown
Star Black
Tom Gray
Clay Fuller

GRA members were given an opportunity to ask questions and to discuss the candidates prior to nominations and voting. In the end, State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade) received a striking 90% of the vote — well over the 2/3rds required for endorsement — on the first ballot! This showed the remarkable unity among the membership in support of Moore.

We are grateful to all the candidates who took time to participate in the candidate forum. While several GRA members were eager to stand up and nominate Moore, several other candidates (including ones not present at the event) did not get nominated for endorsement during the convention business due to a lack of interest in their candidacy and due to their failing to receive a motion for a second for their nomination.

Unlike many organizations where endorsements are made by the organization’s leadership, GRA endorsements are decided by the GRA members within the district, ensuring our endorsements truly reflect the perspective of grassroots Republicans.

“I believe that the members chose Colton because they believe that he will fight for them as he has proven before as a senator,” said Angela Rubino, leader of the Etowah Republican Assembly chapter — one of the local GRA chapters which organized the Regional Endorsement Convention.

“Our members view him as a legitimate MAGA candidate,” added Christopher Deeb, the Cobb County Republican Assembly chapter Chairman.

Moore previously served under the Gold Dome as a state representative and then as a state senator earning the highest vote score of any state legislator when we compared his voting record to Republican principles such as limited government, free enterprise, the right to bear arms, and the sanctity of life.

“I have followed his voting record since he was a state representative, and he continues to stand with the constitution. America needs more of this!” said Jennifer White, the Chattooga Republican Assembly chapter Chairman. “Colton continues to stand with the people, and GRA members see this and recognize it as strength.”

We are grateful for our local chapters who collaborated to host this fantastic event: the Etowah Republican Assembly (in Floyd County), the NWGRA, the Cobb County Republican Assembly, and the Chattooga RA chapter! A huge shout out to the army of volunteers who worked hard to make the event a success.

Now we encourage all of our members to support Colton in his race for Congress! He has had the most principled voting record of any state legislator for the last several years. Let’s help him take that statesmanship and stand-alone moral courage to the U.S. Congress! If you would like to volunteer, donate, or request a campaign sign for your yard, GRA members can help you. Just reply to this email. Wherever you live in Georgia, you cancontribute to help Colton win election!

Got to www.coltonmoore.com to help Colton win election to Congress!

Especially if you live in the 14th Congressional District, don’t forget to vote for Colton for Congress on Tuesday, March 10th!