Last week, despite receiving many calls and emails from concerned Georgians urging him to veto the bill, Governor Brian Kemp signed into law an appalling, unjust, anti-Republican bill, SB 144 which gives pesticide makers immunity from lawsuits if their products harm consumers. Pesticide producer Monsanto/Bayer has faced more than 150,000 lawsuits over Roundup.
“It is shocking that in the wake of the MAHA movement (“Make America Healthy Again”) our Republican state legislators would be so tone deaf as to give special immunity to Bayer/Monsanto,” said Nathaniel Darnell, GRA President.
Reuters reported that Monsanto/Bayer “has paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on the herbicide glyphosate, causes cancer.”
“We are exploring every possibility to end this litigation,” said Bayer.
Which Republican Legislators Voted for SB 144 and helped them avoid accountability in the courtroom?
State Rep. Noelle Kahaian (R-Henry) is a rising star in the Georgia General Assembly, and her story is remarkable and inspiring. First, she had an amazing win against a RINO incumbent Lauren Daniel (who earned a 34% vote score her freshman year) who out-spent her 6-to-1. Then Noelle survived the pressure-cooker from the Establishment in her first legislative session, developing a reputation has resilient patriot defending our Republican principles in policy-making.
Our GRA President Nathaniel Darnell interviewed her to tell her impressive story, which you can now watch here:
Canton, GA — Last Saturday, nearly 200 GRA members and guests from every corner of the state gathered at the GRA Endorsement Convention to hear candidates for GA GOP office, vote on endorsements, fellowship, have lunch together, and conduct other business.
The membership was pleased to endorse five candidates for statewide GOP office: Joanna Hildreth, James Dvorak, Norine Cantor, Laurie McClain,and Kylie Kremer.
GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V reported that this was the best attendedEndorsement Convention in the history of the GRA. Some people arrived late in the afternoon, but at the time of the final Credentials Committee report, we had 188 people in attendance, including 136 voting GRA members and 52 guests.
The Georgia Republican Assembly is a grassroots, member-led organization dedicated to promoting bold constitutional conservatism, integrity, and accountability within the Republican Party. At our State Endorsement Convention, members from across Georgia convened in a vibrant and successful assembly to advance our shared principles by endorsing candidates who represent our values.
The endorsed candidates each received a 2/3rds majority vote, thereby ensuring a strong consensus behind the endorsement. The races for Second Vice Chair and Assistant Secretary both went into run-off ballots, which the body voted to allow in the convention rules.
The Second Vice Chair race contained fourcandidates, three of whom were GRA members, but none of the candidates received 2/3rds on the first ballot for Second Vice Chair. When no candidate in a race received 2/3rds of the vote, GRA members had the opportunity to make a motion for a run-off ballot, where the candidate who received the lowest number of votes would drop off. Like any other motion, this required a majority vote of the convention body each time it was allowed, and the rules required “No endorsement” would be an option on every ballot.
The idea behind this method was to ensure, if a member’s first pick candidate lost, but they still wanted to see the GRA endorse someone in the race, they could make a motion for a run-off ballot and change their vote. This method is usually preferred by members who know there is an Establishment candidate in the race and who want to solidify support behind one of the anti-Establishment options.
Norine Cantor for GA GOP 2nd Vice Chairman
Ultimately, Norine Cantor won the endorsement for 2nd Vice Chair on the third ballot. Kylie Kremer also won the endorsement for Assistant Secretary on the third ballot.
Meanwhile, incumbent Laurie McClain won the GRA endorsement on the first ballot in the race for Treasurer. Over the last term, Laurie has earned confidence through her transparency and professionalism. With close to 40 years of experience as a CPA, her credentials as a fiduciary are impressive.
James Dvorak from Cherokee County also won the 2/3rds endorsement for Over 80K Chairman on the first vote.
Attendees submitted nearly 100 questions for a lengthy Q&A that grappled with many issues of concern to activists around the state. We are grateful to both Josh McKoon and David Cross, the candidates running for GA GOP Chairman, for their participation.
Ultimately, however, no candidate for Chairman won the 2/3rds needed to receive the endorsement. No one made a motion to go into a run-off ballot for the Chairman’s race, probably because the body knew it was unlikely many members would change their vote on a second ballot.
No one won the endorsement either in the 1st Vice Chairman’s race, but attendees did get to hear from two of the three candidates: Salleigh Grubbs from Cobb and Lisa Pierce from Upson.
Attendees were also inspired by a rousing speech from Mallory Staples, Executive Director of the Georgia Freedom Caucus who highlighted the importance of having GOP leadership who is willing to stand up for Republican heroes like Sen. Colton Moore (R-Dade).
We received many thanks from those who attended. Participants praised the convention especially for the paper ballot system used to conduct the endorsement votes and for Alex Johnson who chaired in his customary even-handed and fair manner. It was a great time.
GRA Members Endorse GA GOP Rules Proposals Ahead of GOP Convention
In addition to making endorsements, GRA members took the opportunity to support numerous rules proposals that have been submitted to the GOP for consideration at the June Convention. These proposals include a rule requiring the GAGOP to provide the delegate lists to candidates without requiring the candidates to sign the 9-page NDA with the onerous non-disparagement clause.
Over the last few months, Debbie Dooley has decided to go on the attack against the GRA in her email newsletter. This one takes the cake! She makes at least ten false claims which we have detailed below.
First, Dooley makes a lot of assertions about what happened at the Endorsement Convention, but the registration list will show that she never stepped foot in the convention. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She claims that others reported to her what happened, and she repeated what they told her. Professionalism as a reporter requires her to verify her facts before she publicizes them, and in this case she has recklessly reported malicious lies and falsehoods.
In the first paragraph of her article, Debbie calls the convention a “Nominating Convention,” which it is not. It has never been a “Nominating” Convention. All of our material shows that it is and only has ever been an “Endorsement” Convention. That’s the first Pinocchio for Debbie. 🤥
She also says in the first paragraph that the GRA Endorsement Convention had “just 124 voting members—a sharp decline from the membership strength under the Frost family’s leadership,” which is also not true. Registration for the event showed thatover 200 tickets were sold for the event. 188 were reported to be present (guests & voting GRA members) when the Final Credentials Committee Report was given. At the time of the Preliminary Credentials Committee Report, 126 voting GRA members were present and when the Final Credentials Committee Report was given 136 voting GRA members were present. GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V acknowledged that this convention surpassed the one hosted in Newnan in 2023, which he said he had previously held the record on attendance. In the past, said Frost, “186 is the largest party endorsement convention we have ever had.” This year’s convention surpassed that one in attendance. By every reckoning, Debbie’s report on the numbers was wrong. That’s two Pinocchios for Debbie. 🤥🤥
She also wrongly states that in the past the GRA has been “under the Frost family leadership.” Several members of the Frost family are valued GRA members, and some of them have positions on the GRA Board and on certain committees. But our own web site will show that Brant Frost V has never held any position other than the 1st Vice President position in the organization, and that is the position he holds today. Alex Johnson has been the President of the organization over the last decade, and is now the Chairman of the organization. Nothing has changed in the official organizational structure of the GRA that has made the Frost family more or less in leadership than they have been in the past. 🤥🤥🤥
Debbie then claims that GRA leadership tried to “control the outcome” of the endorsement convention. She described the New Membership Committee Chairman Brian Roper, whose committee vets membership applications, as “a close ally of Darnell,” even though Roper is no closer to GRA President Nathaniel Darnell than any other GRA member in the organization. (Indeed, if Darnell is “close” to anyone, it would seem it would be Brant Frost V, since they were “best men” in each other’s weddings.) Roper does not vet the applications unilaterally, either, but meets with a committee of several GRA members who often spend a few weeks to review applicants before they are approved. Since December of 2024, the GRA has been advertising that the deadline to get approved to vote in the Endorsement Convention would be April 10th. Applicants had plenty of head’s up to apply early enough to be vetting in time, but many applicants waited until the last minute to apply. All applicants receive notification via email if they were approved or denied.
Then in the third paragraph of her article, Dooley says that “Nearly 30 applications from Josh McKoon Supporters were rejected, many without any notification.” This is also completely false.Over the last six months, the GRA has only rejected three applications, for their ties to the establishment, a lack of adherence to our principles, or for making public attacks against the GRA. Every single one of the three who were rejected were notified, contrary to what Debbie claims. 🤥🤥🤥🤥
We did, on the other hand, have many people who waited until the last minute to apply for GRA membership — both McKoon and Cross supporters — whose applications were not approved by April 10th because they were submitted too close to the April 10th deadline for the committee to be able to complete their vetting in time. Even James Lyle, the husband of National Committeewoman Amy Kremer, did not get his membership application approved in time for him to be able to vote in the Endorsement Convention. The committee performed their functions without regard to who the applicant was supporting for Chairman.
But none of the candidates should have been entirely dependent on new GRA members in order to attempt to win the endorsement. The GRA has had over 1,000 members before this year. Many of them are Josh McKoon supporters who did not bother to come to the Endorsement Convention. If they had attended, they might could have secured the endorsement for McKoon, and the April 10th deadline would not have applied to them.
Debbie then says that “an elderly man” was driven two hours to the convention only to be told his membership had been “denied.” Absolutely not true. Not a single person who showed up at the convention thinking they would be able to vote was told they had been “denied.” Applicants who were not approved in time to vote all received an email informing them about the 30 day rule, and saying they would not be eligible to vote at the 5/10/25 statewide endorsement convention. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥
Debbie claims in her email that the “GRA refused to accept proxy votes this year, despite allowing them in past conventions.” The GRA has never allowed “proxy votes” in conventions. The GRA Bylaws specifically do not and have never allowed proxy votes. The Bylaws only allow in-person voting. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥
What actually happened was that the GRA Board allowed the body to consider a motion to allow absentee ballots to be counted at the convention. Only nine such absentee ballots were received. This is the first time the GRA has considered this option. Two years ago, the convention body voted to allow email votes to come from members who lived far away from the convention location, but in the interest of election integrity the GRA Board did not offer that method this year. In order for such absentee ballots to be counted this year, the GRA members present at the in-person convention would have to vote to suspend the normal Bylaw requirement by a 2/3rds majority, and allow for the pre-mailed absentee ballots to be counted. The convention body considered that motion, had some lengthy debate, and that motion ultimately failed, and the 9 mailed in ballots were not included.
Further in her email, Debbie claims that once the Endorsement Convention reached the vote on “Assistant Secretary,” the “GRA leadership changed the rules.” No such thing happened, as anyone in attendance who was paying attention could testify. At the beginning of the convention, the body adopted convention rules which gave the body the option to have additional rounds of voting on a race, with each additional round eliminating the lowest vote-getter from consideration. The body had chosen not to exercise that option for the first few races. This did not change at the Assistant Secretary race, though, but actually at the 2nd Vice Chairman’s race. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥
This was the wording in the convention rules adopted by the body at the beginning of the convention, which allowed for multiple rounds of voting.
Norine Cantor
After multiple rounds of voting led to Norine Cantor winning the endorsement for 2nd Vice Chairman of the GA GOP, the body decided to do it again with the Assistant Secretary’s race. That race went through two rounds of ballots, then Charles Stoker, GRA member from Chattooga County, made a motion for a third round of balloting. This motion passed with a majority vote. The final ballot included only Kylie Kremer or “No Endorsement”. This was the decision of the majority of the body at the convention—as they were empowered to do under the convention rules the entire time! If the body didn’t want to vote a third time, they could have defeated Stoker’s motion. Alex Johnson’s reputation for neutrality as Chairman is well known. He took motions fairly and as they came. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥
Why have multiple rounds of balloting?
When no candidate in a race received 2/3rds of the vote, GRA members had the opportunity to make a motion for a run-off ballot, where the candidate who received the lowest number of votes would drop off.
The idea behind this is that if a member’s first pick preferred candidate lost, but they still wanted to see the GRA endorse someone in the race, they could vote again and change their vote from their first pick to their second pick. This is usually preferred by members who know there is an establishment candidate in the race and who want to solidify support behind one of the anti-establishment options.
This is what happened in the race for 2nd Vice Chair where there were 3 GRA members running and one non-member. Norine Cantor won on the 3rd ballot, likely because some members choose to consolidate support behind a GRA member in the race, even though Norine wasn’t their first choice.
For those who believed that it would be better for the GRA not to make an endorsement in that race, after their preferred candidate dropped off, they had that option, since “No Endorsement” was an option on every ballot. According to the convention rules passed by the body, it was appropriate for a motion to have a final run off between the last candidate and “No endorsement.”
Kylie Kremer
Kylie Kremer won 2/3rds of the vote on the third ballot, after the second ballot dropped Caroling Jeffords, and the third ballot dropped JaQuon Stembridge, leaving the options as Kylie Kremer and “No Endorsement.”
This is how Marci McCarthy won the endorsement in 2023. When the first ballot between Marci McCarthy and Brian Pritchard failed to secure 2/3rds for either candidate, a motion was made for a second round of balloting between Marci McCarthy and “No Endorsement” and Marci won on that ballot.
To be clear, also, Kylie Kremer was not the only candidate at the 2025 GRA Endorsement Convention where the body voted between the candidate and “No Endorsement.” Jenny Eckman, the incumbent Assistant Treasurer for the GA GOP, is running for re-election with no opposition. She spoke at the convention and a vote was held for her race. In her case, the body voted to not endorse.
Interestingly, the convention body on Saturday did not have anyone motion for a second round of balloting in the Chairman’s race, likely because they knew there was such sharp division between their supporters and so many people were very committed to one candidate, and probably assumed none would want just “some endorsement.”
Conclusion
Dooley wraps up her false report on how the GRA Endorsement Convention went by saying: “The playbook being used by Nathaniel Darnell, Alex Johnson, and their allies undermines trust, discourages participation …”. To the contrary, the GRA followed GRA Bylaws, requiring the in-person delegates to make the decision about absentee ballots – not GRA leadership. The chairman enforced the convention rules adopted by the body, and allowed them to be amended by the body. The 2025 GRA State Endorsement Convention had more “participation” than any prior party endorsement convention. 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥
Dooley also calls the leadership of Alex Johnson and Nathaniel Darnell “heavy-handed,” which could not be further from the truth. Throughout the preparations and execution of the Endorsement Convention, many GRA members praised both Johnson and Darnell for going above and beyond to run things fairly, according to the rules, and to ensure that it was thewill of the membership that was enacted. They fought to make sure that no one in the top of the of the organization would put their hands on the scale, but let the membership decide freely who to endorse.🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥 That’s at least ten Pinocchios for Dooley in this post alone.
We have not bothered to answer Dooley’s attacks on the GRA over the last few months until this post from her which reached new depths for deception. The reason we have not answered her over the past few months is because her accusations were so blatantly not credible or else had already been answered years ago, and so we knew they were just harassment. But this recent example of her disinformation was beyond the pale to a new degree.
Debbie Dooley’s attacks on the GRA and its leadership, and her efforts to try to sow discord within the GRA are a big turn off to many in the GRA who are considering possibly voting for Josh McKoon (since no candidate in the GA GOP Chairman’s race won the endorsement). If McKoon’s supporters are willing to lie so thoroughly, however, in order to get the outcome they want, it is a bad reflection on their candidate. The McKoon campaign would do well to distance themselves from this kind of behavior and denounce it.
Thank you for all our GRA members for coming out and participating across the state at the many congressional district GA GOP conventions held last Saturday! We are grateful for the blessing of God on our efforts, and are pleased to report the abundant success!
We are pleased to report that in the 11th Congressional District GA GOP Convention, virtually all of the endorsed candidates for various positions were elected. In particular, GRA-endorsed candidate David Oles from Pickens County won re-election as the 11th District GA GOP Chairman by a margin of 153 to 98!
GOP Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch congratulates Richard Jordan for his election as the new 7th District Chair.
In the 7th Congressional District, GRA-endorsed candidate Richard Jordan from Cherokee County won election as the new District 7 GA GOP Chairman. Richard has been serving over the last several years as the North Metro RA chapter President. Several GRA-endorsed candidates and GRA members also won positions on the down-ballot, including Fulton GOP Chairwoman Stephanie Endres, Honey Burfield from Cherokee, Tom Talbot from Hall, Sig Jucknies from Cherokee, and Seanie Zappendorf from Dawson, who were elected to the State Committee.
Kandiss Taylor & Brittany Brown
In the 1st Congressional District, GRA-member Kandiss Taylor passed the mantle of leadership to Brittany Brown as the new District Chairwoman! Brittany has been servinga s the SEGRA chapter President and also the Chatham County GOP Chairwoman for the last few years.
In the 4th Congressional District, GRA-endorsed candidate Jim Duffie won re-election easily as the 4th District GA GOP Chairman. GRA Chairman Alex Johnson, Dr. Kendra Biegalski, William Freeman, and Austin McDonald — all GRA members — were also elected to the state committee in the 4th.
In the 3rd Congressional District, Katie Frost was also easily re-elected as the 3rd District Chairwoman. Her brother Brant Frost V, mother Krista Frost, Denise Ognio, and Jim Fernander are each GRA members who were elected to the GA GOP State Committee from the 3rd as well.
The only district where a GRA member was pitted against an Establishment candidate and lost was in the 9th Congressional District.
Although Brian Parker (former Banks County GOP Chairman) was not officially endorsed in the 9th because no GRA endorsement convention was held in the 9th, he is a GRA member and patriot who was preferred over staunch Establishment candidate Stephen Aaron in the northeast corner of the state. It still baffles the mind that a congressional district with a Congressman possessing such an exceptional voting record like Andrew Clyde’s has such a poor track record of picking District Chairs! But Brian was the target of several hit pieces by Debbie Dooley and other Establishment tools in the days leading up the district Conventions.
GRA President Nathaniel Darnell congratulates Angela Rubino.
Another notable win for the GRA came in the 14th Congressional District where the Etowah RA chapter President Angela Rubino defeated the Establishment Floyd County GOP Chairwoman Pam Peters for election to State Committee by a margin of 142 to 78 votes!
Angela had challenged Pam for Floyd County GOP Chair during the county convention but had lost by a margin of 49 to 63.
In addition, GRA President Nathaniel Darnell, GRA Secretary Joanna Hildreth, GRA Assistant Secretary Jackie Harling, Eddie Caldwell, Linda Fowler, Teresa Ray, and Denise Burns are all GRA members who were elected to the State Committee from the 14th.
Even in outlier congressional districts, GRA members experienced wins. For example, Allison Largeman and Tifani Eledge won elected to the state committee in the 2nd District, along with Sam Carnline. Although Sam is not a GRA member, he is a leader in one of our partner organizations, Georgians for Truth. In the 8th District, Mike Niesler is a GRA member who was elected to the state committee, and in the 6th District Matthew Hardwick is a GRA member who was elected to the state committee.
Here is an additional breakdown of our how endorsed candidates for the district conventions fared:
This coming Saturday, most of the Congressional District GA GOP organizations will be hosting their district conventions, and if you are a district convention delegate or alternate, it is imperative that you attend and help ensure we get the best patriots possible elected to leadership in the GA GOP at this level for the next two years!
In Woodstock Tuesday night, our North Metro RA chapter (Pickens & Cherokee), our Fulton RA chapter, and our Cobb RA chapter combined to co-host a Regional Candidate Forum & Endorsement Convention for the 7th & 11th Congressional Districts. We heard not only from the District Chair candidates for these races, but also from dozens of down-ballot ones.
As a result, the participating GRA membership voted by a 2/3rds majority to endorse the following Chair candidates:
• For 7th District Chairman: Richard Jordan from Cherokee County
• For 11th District Chairman: David Oles from Pickens County
David Oles speaking at the regional endorsement convention.
David Oles is the incumbent District 11 Chairman, and has been serving as one of three attorneys helping pro bono with the Catoosa GOP lawsuit against the four RINO commission candidates. In addition, he has been leading as an attorney on several premiere election integrity suits.
David has been the first non-Establishment grassroots Chairman that District 11 has had in decades (one of his recent predecessors donated to Democrats while serving as the Republican District Chairman!).
Richard Jordan has been the chapter President for our North Metro RA chapter for the last few years, and has been very pro-active in local Republican politics and election integrity reform efforts. He’s a go-getter with a gift for organization and getting things done!
The convention also endorsed on many (but not all) down-ballot races, which you can see below.
Blue Ridge, GA – On Monday, the Fannin County Republican Party hosted a candidate forum featuring MA-GA candidate for 9th District Chair Brian Parker and his opponent Stephen Aaron, a former employee of Speaker David Ralston. Fannin County activists got to witness a clear difference between the candidates as Brian Parker championed the need for the GOP to provide accountability to fake Republican candidates, and Aaron opposed it (see video timecode 51:10).
“We’ve got to have accountability,” said Brian Parker. “When you got a job, did you have an interview before you got your job? … Did you ever have a review [of your performance on the job]? Would you want to work with somebody who is not pulling their weight, or who is working against the company? No!”
Brian Parker
After the Catoosa GOP adopted the Accountability Rule and implemented an interview for county commissioners, Republicans across Georgia are beginning to realize that the Republican party must start providing some quality control to the candidates they allow on the Republican ballot, ensuring candidates meet a minimum standard, or risk severe damage to the Republican brand and demoralizing voters.
Stephen Aaron, the other candidate for 9th District Chairman, openly opposed the idea of the Republican Party providing accountability to politicians.
“All the accountability rule is is a power grab…No, I am not in favor of the accountability rule!” said Aaron. “Because, as a political party, it is our job to elect Republicans to office – Republicans that go through the primary. The primary is their interview process.”
This image taken from Aaron’s LinkedIn profile shows he was employed by Ralston.
Brian Parker noted how the average voter isn’t paying attention and often makes election decisions based on a name that is familiar to them, or the ethnicity of a candidate or some other superficiality.
Stephen Aaron worked as a campaign manager in 2014 for the late Speaker David Ralston, who was criticized for his corrupt use of legislative continuance to postpone legal cases for his law practice, that resulted in many victims not getting their day in court for several years. He was also criticized for stalling many bills through the years that would have advanced the GOP platform. In 2019, then Representative Colton Moore was one of 10 legislators who signed on to a resolution calling for Ralston to resign for his unethical behavior.
Stephen Aaron going full-blown fan-boy on his Facebook for the late corrupt Speaker David Ralston
“Any GOP officer who has been a cheerleader for legislators with as terrible, unjust, and unprincipled a record as David Ralston’s is the epitome of Establishment!” said GRA President Nathaniel Darnell. “It is no surprise to find out that the people praising corrupt politicians are often on the politicians’ payroll! The paid political industry really has no business holding office in the Republican Party, since they have an inherent monetary conflict of interest when it comes to any accountability measures.”
Last week, on the other hand, Brian Parker spoke at the MA-GA candidate forum where he gave a rousing speech in support of the Republican platform and holding politicians accountable to it. Brian has previously served alongside Ron Hooper, former GRA NFRA Director, on the Fulton Defense Fund raising over $35,000 to support the three GOP electors who were targeted by Fani Willis. Their event ranked 11th in the state for total funds raised in 2023.
“Brian has shown a deep commitment to understanding the inner workings of the GOP, and he’s proven he can handle any challenge,” said Ron Hooper. “His greatest strength is his unwavering dedication to the America First movement and the mission to Make America Great Again. He holds politicians accountable and demands adherence to the Republican Platform.”
Brian has served as the chairman of the Bank’s County Republican Party.
“As the GOP stands at a crossroads, it is clear that bold leadership is essential for the party’s future. We need more individuals like Brian Parker—principled, passionate, and driven—to help restore the Republican brand and move us forward,” said Ron Hooper.”
Last Saturday, the 5th District GA GOP organization held its District Convention a week early ahead of the other districts. A local DeKalb RA chapter made endorsements for that event in advance, and they were mostly successful.
Catherine Bernard
Anita Lane Favors was the GRA-endorsed candidate for the 5th District Chair position, and she successfully won the seat! Attorney Catherine Bernard was one of the GRA-endorsed candidates for State Committee, and she was successfully re-elected as well. Catherine also serves as our Senior GRA NFRA Director. Non-establishment candidate Rich Clarke from DeKalb also won election to the state committee.
Regretfully, Establishment candidate Travis Bowden also won re-election to the state committee when the convention had the candidates run not for specific slots. Instead, the state committee seats were awarded to the top three candidates who received the most votes. Catherine received the most votes at the convention (only one delegate voted against her). Travis received the second most votes. Rich received third place. GRA-member Julie Allen from Fulton came in fourth, and so was not elected to the state committee.
Travis Bowden
When delegates were asked how they could vote to elect Travis Bowden while also electing non-Establishment candidates such as Catherine and Rich, multiple participants said that they were simply not familiar with Travis’ reputation and track record, but were impressed with the brief speech he gave at the convention.
Travis has worked in the political industry for years, defended bad politicians, and has often been belligerent to grassroots activists across the state. This is why it is so important for delegates to really know their candidates and not be misled merely by a brief speech at a convention.
Even so, we are grateful to see progress in the heart of the Atlanta area each year! This is a long game, and we are optimistic about what the future holds.
If you’re a delegate or an alternate to a convention, the conventions are about YOU. You are the one who have control of the party at that time, and you are the one who can work to make things better. Either by having the party take a stand on issues, changing rules, or electing new party leadership. You are in control, but you need to know what’s going on. That’s what this is for:
The Georgia GOP is run between state conventions by the State Executive Committee, and the State Committee. This is in the GAGOP Rules.
The State Executive Committee consists of numerous officials, but the main one that needs to be discussed right now are “District Chairmen”. They are elected at upcoming district conventions.
Also, elected at district conventions are members of the “State Committee”. The Rules of the party are available here, and the convention call governing conventions this year is here.
At the district conventions coming up, you can pass party rules, district resolutions (actions by the district), as well as electing district officers and state committee members.
Here are some resolutions I personally suggest, as examples, you may want to pass (and to edit out the first line and submit them to the GAGOP State Convention, pursuant to the Call, above):
Additionally, at the district conventions, the most important thing you can do is to ensure that no convention rules or agenda is passed (right toward the beginning of the convention) that do any of the following:
1. Prohibit or restrict the ability of people to run for office or to debate; 2. Increase the vote needed to or prohibit you from proposing resolutions or rules changes (it normally takes a majority vote); 3. Require a 2/3 vote for anything (Roberts Rules, which govern these meetings, already have a 2/3 requirement for things that need it: having a 2/3 vote for appealing decisions, making motions, or passing resolutions is designed to take away your rights as a delegate).
Make sure that ANY attempts to do this fail. When someone moves to adopt any convention rules, you’ll want to immediately stand up and state your opposition to them, point out it takes a 2/3 vote to pass any such convention rules, and immediately make a motion to amend the rules by striking each and every item in convention rules that do any of these things listed above. This is important even if you don’t want to run yourself, or you don’t have any resolutions.
Why? Because others in the crowd may not know what you know, and you should work to help make sure that “we the people”, not the Establishment, are in control.
Some districts have set deadlines (that you may or may not have known about) regarding when you can submit resolutions or nominations to run for office. Unlike at the state convention, where those deadlines cannot be easily voted down since they were part of the State GOP Convention call (above) which governs all conventions, you can easily do so at district conventions by voting against any such restrictions in the convention rules or the convention rules overall (because, again, it takes a 2/3 vote to pass such restrictive rules, and if the Chairman refuses to do a count, you can call out “Division!” and the chairman must count the votes)
You should definitely submit by any deadline if you can. But if you can’t, realize that your convention delegates (not some group who met ahead of time) have the power.
You’ll likely see committees, *appointed by the existing leadership*, telling you that certain resolutions, nominees, or rules are the only ones that should be considered. This is, again, designed to limit your rights. You are at these conventions to have your voice heard. If you’ve submitted any resolutions (or want to have them considered), make sure to get up and make a motion to make it happen. If you’re ever confused on what to do, you should stand up, be recognized by the chairman, and make a “Point of parliamentary inquiry” in order to ask how to accomplish whatever you are trying to achieve, be it nominating someone for office or having a resolution debated.
And while the resolutions linked above have not been endorsed by the GRA, you should definitely look for GRA members who may be able to help you with parliamentary procedures/motions in order to help achieve your goals.
Remember, if you are grassroots, you want to see people involved and having their voices heard. And you don’t want fearmongering by those in the political industry that try to discourage or dissuade you from being a leader to win out.
The Establishment falsely believes and states that you can drain the swamp by trying to get along with the swamp and not doing anything. We know, and we’ve seen it with President Trump, that bold action and rhetoric are both required in order to lead and to “drain the swamp”.
Thank you for your involvement in the convention cycle, and please be sure to forward this information to your friends.
Last week, after hundreds of grassroots pro-life activists flooded the Capitol urging GA Representatives to finally abolish abortion, the controlled-opposition “pro-life” establishment organization, Georgia Life Alliance (GLA) sent a letter to the committee in an effort to kill the pro-life bill, HB 441. Astoundingly, the letter urges legislators to not pass this bill out of committee even though it would save tens of thousands of babies in our state each year! GLA urged the legislators to not even hold a hearing on it! A shocking step from an organization that claims to work to end abortion. The letter does not offer suggestions for amending the legislation, but only requests legislators stop the bill — abort it, you might say.
Sarah Pedro (right) with GRA NFRA Director Abigail Darnell (left) at the hearing for HB 441
“When I saw Georgia Life Alliance actively fighting against ending baby murder in Georgia my heart felt sick!” said Fulton GRA member Sarah Pedro. “Making something against the law does not criminalize any person or group of people, it deters the action. It’s why we have laws in the first place – to deter harmful actions perpetrated against innocent citizens.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, grassroots pro-life activists have longingly worked toward the day a bill to finally end abortion would get traction under the Gold Dome.
According to the GA Dept. of Public Health, more than 30,000 babies were murdered by abortion in Georgia in 2023. HB 441 would finally establish justice and equal protection for abortion victims.
“Abortion will never be ‘unthinkable’ while it remains legal,” said GRA President Nathaniel Darnell. “It was disturbing to see fellow Republicans and even professing ‘pro-life’ Christians taking action alongside pro-abortion Democrats to oppose the protection of innocent pre-born children.”
The letter from Georgia Life Alliance discouraging legislators from supporting HB 441, falsely claimed that: “HB 441 changes long-standing Georgia protections for women and does not address or hold accountable the abortionist, the pimp, the sex trafficker, and the irresponsible man who will face no consequence and continue to prey on women and girls for their own selfish gain.”
This characterization is demonstrably untrue! If HB 441 were enacted, any man who pressured a woman to have an abortion, paid for the abortion, or committed the abortion would be party to a homicide. Being investigated for homicide is far from “no consequence” as GLA claimed. Any pimp who was party to a homicide could be investigated and the woman protected from consequences when a jury examines the evidence and testimony and it was proven that she did not have intent to kill.
Expectant mothers who want to do what is right and keep their baby would be better protected by HB441 than they are now. Lets be clear. Any jury will readily see that a human trafficking victim is not the guilty party in her abortion. Similarly, any pregnant minor whose parents forced an illegal abortion on her would not be the guilty party.
By providing equal protection and making abortion homicide, those trying to pressure an expectant mother to commit an illegal abortion would themselves be guilty of a crime, since it is criminal to coerce someone to commit a crime. This would give vulnerable pregnant women the opportunity to report the pimp or the irresponsible man to the police.
HB 441 would expand legal protection for Georgia mothers who are committed to protecting their child. HB 441 would provide a strong legal detterent to committing an abortion. It would also provide helpful counter pressure so a woman who wants to birth her baby is not swayed by those who might attempt to persuade her to have an illegal abortion.
