Blog

All Blog Posts

The Faith & Medicine Conference Is Back!

The Faith & Medicine Conference Is Back!

The GRA is thrilled to report that the Faith and Medicine Conference is back in 2025! Moreover, the GRA is pleased to be co-sponsoring the event again, particularly the political panel on Saturday, which our GRA President Nathaniel Darnell will be moderating once again with a mix of new and returning panelists. This conference will be timely as we’ve recently seen breakthroughs on the medical freedom front with some of President Donald Trump’s forthcoming cabinet appointees. 

You may recall that this conference started after the 2020 COVID lockdowns forced churches around the country to shutdown their Sunday morning services and after many were shamed and coerced into taking the COVID vaccine and other “boosters” or risk losing their jobs. Christians and many others began to re-evaluate where the lines were drawn on the limits of civil authority and how we should take care of our health.

Fmpnl 1024x474

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability just released a report on COVID-19 After a two-year investigation. It’s everything you would have expected. They found that the social distancing recommendations — which shut down churches, schools, and small business across the country — was arbitrary and not based on science. Moreover, there was no conclusive evidence that masks effectively protected Americans from COVID-19. See more on that report here.

For more insight, join us for the 2025 Faith & Medicine Conference on the weekend of January 31st – February 1st in Buford! 

Click here to pre-register for the 2025 Faith & Medicine Conference.

Fmc 791x1024
This Thanksgiving, Let Us Remember to Whom We Should Be Especially Thankful …

This Thanksgiving, Let Us Remember to Whom We Should Be Especially Thankful …

We at the GRA wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving Day tomorrow as we celebrate the blessings of God upon our nation! These blessings were particularly evident in the recent general election as we saw NFRA-endorsed Donald Trump re-elected as U.S. President, and Republicans win back the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House!

Guns

We’re also thankful for a newly emerging breed of local and state Republican leaders like State Senator Colton Moore (District 53) who are providing a higher caliber of Republican in Georgia—focused on advancing Republican principles.

I recently had the delight of joining Senator Moore, Rep. Charlice Byrd (District 20) and former State Rep. Matt Gurtler (now Chief of Staff to Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky) at Moore’s Machine Gun Shootout in northwest Georgia. We had a blast celebrating together the recent wins.

Moore has been a voice of conviction for truth in the state legislature when many others shrink in cowardice. For example, you may have seen Moore’s recent reaction when Laken Riley’s murderer was convicted. Moore immediately called for GA’s Attorney General Chris Carr to act so that the convicted murderer would receive capital punishment, but do-nothing Carr continues to sit on his hands as usual in failing to enforce critical Georgia laws.

The Word of God says that the best way to protect innocent life is with the death penalty against those who would destroy it. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man” (Genesis 9:12). This is much of the reason for why we stand for gun rights in America: Everyone has the right to defend himself with deadly force against those who would threaten him with deadly force

But after a crime has occurred, God has delegated the authority and responsibility only to civil government to impose capital punishment for convicted murderers who have received due process. (See Exodus 21:12Romans 13:3-4.) The brutal murder of Laken Riley deserves such a punishment.

But instead the taxpayers are being forced to provide Riley’s vicious murderer with free room and board for the rest of his life.

Carr

And yet Mr. Carr is not only ignoring the necessary action, but he’s apparently tone deaf enough to have announced he’s the first candidate to run as Georgia’s next so-called “Republican” Governor. We hope better candidates will enter that race in the days to come.

In the meantime, the GRA is going to continue to work alongside and support courageous and principled champions such as Colton Moore and resist the RINOswho would make America pathetic again.

The Bible teaches clearly that the role of Civil Government is to do justice, not charity, and not economic development. We look forward to the day when civil government gives more attention to doing real justice for victims, and less attention to micro-managing people’s lives and livelihoods.

To Whom Are You Thankful?

Pilg

The Pilgrim fathers who gathered in Plymouth for the first Thanksgiving Day knew exactly to whom they owed gratitude. Likewise, President George Washington made it abundantly clear who our nation should be thankful for in his first national Thanksgiving proclamation.

Being thankful always requires an object of that gratitude.

The other day I was listening to a high school teacher explain to his students how the word “love” only makes sense if there is a specific target of that love. In grammar, words like “love” are what they call transitive verbs. No matter what the Democrats say, one is not simply a love person or a hate person. Everyone loves something and everyone hates something. Usually, we hate that which opposes what we love. It is the same with being thankful. Thankfulness is not just a warm fuzzy floating around in our feelings directed at no one in particular. We must have an object.

Who is the object of your thanksgiving this year? Hopefully, we are counting our blessings and thanking our families for their support throughout the daily grind. Tell them how much you appreciate them. Being grateful is good for the soul.

We should also be grateful for all of the hard-working volunteers in the GOP who made the recent victories possible. They worked tirelessly for the families in their community, who will all benefit from Republican policies, but never know who made it happen and will likely never express their gratitude.

There are many people we should thank. But most of all, we must give thanks to God.

Trmpa

This need is particularly underscored when we witness remarkable acts of providence and blessing for which mere coincidence cannot adequately account. Events like Donald Trump turning his head at just the right split second to only be grazed on the ear by a would-be assassin’s bullet.

Such events do not play out that way without, as George Washington would say, “the finger of providence” being in it.

Thanking God necessarily means we are acknowledging our dependence upon Him, and thus are acknowledging our need to trust and obey Him above all others as we continue to live.

Kam

We are thanking God with you this week! Together let us seek His wisdom and blessing as we work to improve Georgia. He has granted us a merciful reprievein the recent election results. Let us make the most of it.

We have not achieved success merely because Republicans were elected. We have achieved success when Republicans policies get enacted into law. So our work to provide accountability begins today.

If you are not currently engaged in the Republican Party, or if you would like to be more effective at advancing the principles and fighting off Democrats and Establishment RINOs, we invite you to contribute to our outreach in Georgia! Join the team of grateful warriors.

Time to Make the Most of the “Red Wave”

Time to Make the Most of the “Red Wave”

Georgia Republican Assembly members are ecstatic about the results from the General Election this past Tuesday! Obviously, we are thrilled that our NFRAendorsed candidate for POTUS Donald Trump made history by becoming the first since Grover Cleveland (1837 – 1908) to be elected to two non-consecutive terms. But far more significantly, we are excited about the real policy differences this election win forecasts.

This election revealed that at least 72 million Americans have not been completely brain-washed by MSNBC, CNN, the Washington Post, and other “fake news” legacy media outlets.

With a newly won Republican majority back in the U.S. Senate and a renewed Republican majority appearing to materialize in the U.S. House, Trump is poised to make strides to accomplish a lot. “With these wins, Republicans need to make hay while the sun shines to implement as many changes as possible while they have the majority,” said GRA President Nathaniel Darnell. “No more playing it safe to try to stay in power (which always eventually back-fires)! They need to get as much good done as possible while they can!”

Win

This election represents not only a warm embrace of the policy changes proposed by the Trump-Vance ticket, but also a firm rejection of the clown world policies that have accelerated under Democrats over the last four years! Americans don’twant the wild Woke policies of trans-your-kids, push DEI, make taxpayers pay for trans surgeries for prisoners, pit the skin colors and the sexes against each other, finance both sides of a war across the world, cutoff energy pipelines in our land, and compel private social media outlets to censor anyone who disagrees!

Americans want to open up our oil pipelines, protect the border, lower our tax burden & inflation, provide a healthy environment for Americans businesses and workers, support medical freedom, cut waste and overregulation in the federal bureaucracy, and many other strong policies that the team Trump is assembling, appear well equipped to advance.

GRA-member Marjorie Taylor Greene also won reelection for her 14th GA Congressional seat with 64.39% of the vote, and GRA-endorsed Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-9) won re-election with 69.02% of the vote in his race. They will no doubt be among the Republicans in D.C. working hard to implement positive changes quickly.

President Trump’s indication to include other notable leaders like Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, Robert Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, Ron Paul, and Joel Salatin in areas of his administration where they excel, gives hope for real progress on the horizon.

How Did this Georgia Victory Happen?

How Did this Georgia Victory Happen?

Win02

There’s no disputing that all eyes were on Georgia Tuesday as the election results arrived. At the latest tally, it appears that Trump beat Harris in Georgia by 117,812 votes.

Several factors contributed to ensure Democrats did not effectively cheat state-wide and to make sure Trump’s success was “too big to rig!”

For one, the legal team did not get caught flat-footed.

One of the most critical things was the success by GA GOP Chairman Josh McKoon(working with RNC Chairman Michael Whatley) to expedite an appeal to the Georgia State Supreme Court over the weekend. The high court responded by ruling that no non-military absentee ballots could be counted if they were received after Election Day. That cut off an avenue for the Democrats, in places like Fulton County, to stuff sufficient ballots in Georgia to overturn the results. If it wasn’t for that accomplishment, we might still be in suspense today, awaiting the final election outcome.

For another thing, GRA members who have been positioned in key county and congressional district GOP leadership positions worked hard with their teams to get out the vote. The massive early voting by Republican voters in all counties was crucial. Even in counties in metro-Atlanta that are now eclipsed by majority Democrat voters, the Republican raw vote was essential.

Whit2

For example, Gwinnett County brought in 172,812 votes for Trump, Cobb County brought in 168,286, and Fulton County brought in 142,912. If you subtract those results from any of those counties, Trump would not have won. Even DeKalb County with its 62,482 votes for Trump helped to push the margin of victory far enough from the Democrat’s clutches so as to render it too significant to steal the election.

That is why it was valuable to have so many Republicans running in down-ballot races, even in places that were considered too blue to win. We are grateful for all of those who put in the effort to recruit candidates before March this year!

Whit

In addition to the top-of the ticket victories, our GRA members in local GOP leadership also enjoyed other hard-fought wins in their communities. For example, in Whitfield County, GRA member Eddie Caldwell (Whitfield County GOP Chair) and his team defeated a Democrat who has held office as Sheriff for 32 years!

In Cobb County, GRA-member Salleigh Grubbs (Cobb GOP Chair) resoundingly defeated an M-SPLOSTincrease proposed by the Democrat commissioners and helped Republicans retain majority control of the county School Board. Brad Wheeler and Randy Scamihorn were incumbent Republicans on the school board who had been targeted for removal by the Southern Poverty Law Center after they opposed trans and other perverse indoctrination taking place in classrooms behind parents’ backs.

Meanwhile, Middle GA RA Chapter leader Troy Cook overwhelmingly won his race for Crawford County Commissioner District 2 with 67.45% of the vote.

Ppp

The third main contributor to success on Tuesday was that so many GRA members and other grassroots activists have worked tirelessly and vigilantly over the last four years to push hard for real election integrity reformin our state. Although not everything we’ve been fighting for has yet been accomplished, the wins we have experienced definitely made our election systems much less vulnerable to the Democrats’ potential cheating efforts than they were in 2020.

More GRA-Endorsed Legislative and Local Candidate Victories!

More GRA-Endorsed Legislative and Local Candidate Victories!

Nkah

The Georgia Freedom Caucus has another member among its ranks at the State Capitol. In spite of opposition and harassment from the Republican Establishment in Atlanta, our GRA-endorsed State House candidate Noelle Kahaian came out on top in her election for State House District 81 with 19,122 votes to the Democrat’s 14,392 votes. Noelle has been a patriot activist for several years working on common sense legislation to protect children from obscenity and harmful gender ideology in government schools and libraries. Her victory is particularly notable because she defeated a R.I.N.O. incumbent in the primary earlier this year.

Meanwhile, GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore (R-53) resoundingly won re-election with 78.77% of the vote in Northwest Georgia. Moore has had the best vote score of any legislator in the Georgia General Assembly over the last term — a fact that seems to have sparked some jealously among the R.I.N.O.s in the State Senate who removed him from their Senate so-called “Republican” Caucus.

Kpull
Ken Pullin

In other local down ballot races, several GRA-endorsed candidates also clinched it. For example, GRA member Keith Bowen won election as Miller County Commissioner, receiving 84% of the vote! Endorsed candidate Clyde McDaniel for Whitfield County Cornor won his race with 73% of the vote.

Still more GRA-endorsed candidates won without opposition in the general election, including State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-20), Tony Abernathy for Murray County School Board, and Ken Pullin for Pike County Board of Commissioners.

GOP Majority Continues to Shrink in GA State House

GOP Majority Continues to Shrink in GA State House

Although Republicans made wins up and down, far and wide, on Tuesday there was one area in Georgia GOP circles where enthusiasm was more muted.

Jbrns
GA Speaker Jon Burns

Democrats reportedly took two seats away from Republicans in the GA State House. One of the lost seats was from Rep. Mesha Mainor, who had been a Democrat who switched parties mid-term.

The Georgia State House Republican Caucus has been slowly diminishing its majority in the legislature since 2016, first under David Ralston‘s leadership and now under his successor Jon Burns. In 2020, Republicans lost five seats in the State House. In 2018, Republicans lost nine seats. Not since the election of 2016, when President Donald Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton, have Republicans in the State House not lost seats in their caucus. 

Dimn 1024x623

But even Trump’s coattails were not able to keep the State House “Republican” Caucus from losing seats this year. Indeed, even with Governor Brian Kemp campaigning and financially supporting the incumbent GOP caucus candidates so heavily, reports are showing that they appear to have lost two seats in the State House this week.

During the wave of the T.E.A. Party movement in the first half of the 2010s, Republicans saw steady gains in the Georgia legislature and across the country. But as Republicans have failed to live up to the promises of reform made under that movement, Republican voters have grown increasingly disillusioned.

The State House has also developed a reputation of being the more Left-leaning of the two legislative chambers at the State Capitol. They have blocked and watered down Election Integrity reform, they pushed the notorious ominous “Mental Health Parity” bill (socialized medicine), they have locked up pro-life and medical freedom legislation so that it is not even allowed to be discussed in committee, etc., etc., etc. This year they sanctioned State Sen. Colton Moore when he accurately began to speak on the harmful legacy of the late Speaker David Ralston. 

Jank
Janelle King

About the only significant positive achievement the House can claim is the appointment of Janelle King to the state Elections Board this year.

Even this year’s legislative accomplishments touted were a mixed bag, such as the election integrity reforms that don’t do into effect until two years from now, or the “school choice” voucher system that will likely lead to new government intrusions into private education (“with shekels come shackles”).

However, we are not discouraged because GRA members are making huge strides to provide needed accountability to our state legislators! When Republican politicians don’t advance true Republican policy, GRA members are ready to expose the truth to the voters in their community. GRA members are using our scorecards across the state to inform the electorate, organize local chapters, recruit and endorse principled candidates, and sacrifice the time and treasure required to save our state from fake Republicans. 

If you would like to help continue building on the successes of the last year, please consider becoming a GRA member today!

Record-Breaking Success in the 14th!

Record-Breaking Success in the 14th!

We’re in the final stretch of the general election campaign season, and the GRA is busy all across the state, working to make the biggest impact possible on November 5th!

Last week, several of us from the GRA Board were pleased to support our GRA-member Denise Burns, the Chairwoman of the 14th Congressional District GA GOP, in her special fundraiser dinner featuring hero journalist Tucker Carlson and GRA-endorsed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14) at the beautiful new McClemore Resort in Senator Colton Moore‘s district of northwest Georgia. This event was primarily organized, promoted, and coordinated by GRA-members who lead the 14th District GA GOP Committee, especially Denise, Joanna Hildreth, and Jackie Harling, with help from others in the district.

As the Treasurer of the 14th GA GOP, I was thankful that the event turned out to be such a success. It was not the Buckhead corporate lobbyists who came to the rescue to sponsor the dinner, but many regular grassroots folks in north Georgia and Tennessee who admire the courageous efforts Tucker and Marjorie have taken for the well-being of the country — even when it has cost them dearly. The event ended up raising over $200,000 (gross), which is far more than we have ever seen a congressional district GOP organization in the state raise all at once!

In addition, at the dinner VoterGA‘s Garland Favorito presented Tucker with the “Truth in Journalism” award for exposing evidence of tampering and fraud from the 2020 election on his old FoxNews show before he was forced to leave that network.

Those of us on the 14th District Committee met shortly thereafter to put these hard-earned funds immediately to good use to help our key Republican nominees in the district facing Democrat opposition. GRA-endorsed candidate Gary Chaffee, for example, received the maximum contribution for his State House race. But the committee was also careful to reward only principled Republican candidates, not RINO incumbents who can get backing from Speaker Burn‘s House “Republican” Caucus, where their loyalties obviously lie. I’m proud of the committee for taking that approach. It is good to reward real Republicans who actually uphold and advance the principles of the platform.

Meanwhile, Georgia has been seeing new records of early voting turnout around the state. Have you voted yet?

Drnck
One of the friendly neighbors in my precinct I had the pleasure of meeting while canvassing for candidate Brad Wheeler.

GRA members have been volunteering as poll workers and poll watchers. We’ve been out door-knocking and sign-waving for local Republican candidates. In-between the work, some of us have managed to squeeze in a rally or two with Trump or J.D. Vance.

There are only 15 days left before the polls close on Election Day. We need to make hay while the sun shines!

Tuesday evening GRA members will have a Zoom call with Trump attorney (and fellow graduate from my law school alma materMark Meuser from California.

It will be vital that we be all on the same page and coordinated about how to handle any possible election fraud that comes to light on November 5th.

Since we still have to put up with the Dominion voting machine systems for this election, please be sure to encourage all of your friends and family to be careful to review their printed ballot before submitting it to ensure the selections match the choices made on the computer touch screen. There have already been reports of inaccurate printed ballots in some cases.

Let’s stay vigilant and keep pressing on for victory!

Fact Check: Amber Thurman’s Death Was Not Due to Pro-Life State Laws

Fact Check: Amber Thurman’s Death Was Not Due to Pro-Life State Laws

Over the last week, the Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been making a big to-do, alleging that state laws that protect some children from abortion murder are to blame for the death of Amber Thurman. However, fact-checking reveals the following:

  • The 2022 Amber Thurman story is a case of medical malpractice.
  • The treatment Amber needed, a dilation & curettage (D&C), to remove the body of her murdered twin babies, was and remains completely legal under Georgia’s current “Heartbeat” law.
  • Amber died two years ago in 2022. The only reason we are just now hearing about her story (two years later) is because it is an election year and the pro-abortion Left is exploiting her death for political purposes.
  • Amber died of a known risk listed on the abortion drug’s black box warning — a risk the pro-life community frequently warns people about.
  • Leftists falsely claim “abortion is safer than Tylenol” but 1 in 25 women go to the emergency room with complications after taking the abortion pill!
Ambthr
Amber Thurman

Therefore, the real blame for Amber Thurman’s death should be put upon those who are touting these abortion murder pills as safe for the health of the mother.

For more information, here is an article from a malpractice attorney stating what the medical industry did wrong and why her death was not due to pro-life laws: https://www.liveaction.org/news/amber-thurman-pro-abortion-state-keisha-atkins/

Also, see another fact-check from Live Action: https://www.liveaction.org/news/fact-check-georgia-law-second-woman-abortion-pill/

Finally, read GRTL’s statement on the Deadly Reality of Abortion Pills: https://preview.mailerlite.io/emails/webview/983669/132950076542682518

Georgia Republican Assembly Outraged by Second Assassination Attempt on Former President Donald J. Trump

Georgia Republican Assembly Outraged by Second Assassination Attempt on Former President Donald J. Trump

The Georgia Republican Assembly (GRA) expresses its profound outrage following the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump at the Mar-a-Lago golf course. This alarming incident marks the second time in just two months that a threat has been made against the life of our nation’s leader, and it underscores the urgent need for accountability and justice.

09.16.24 PR 2ndAssassinationAttempt

The GRA is grateful that President Trump emerged from this harrowing experience unscathed. His safety is a relief to all who value the principles of democracy and the rule of law. We commend the quick actions of the Secret Service and local law enforcement, which ensured the former president’s protection during this dangerous situation.

We call upon law enforcement agencies to swiftly identify and prosecute the assailant, as well as any co-conspirators involved in this heinous act. It is imperative that those who threaten the lives of public figures are brought to justice to prevent further violence and intimidation.

Furthermore, the GRA urges the media to temper their rhetoric regarding President Trump. The false narrative that he poses a threat to democracy, fueled by baseless allegations, creates a dangerous environment that emboldens unhinged individuals to commit acts of violence. It is crucial for the media to recognize their role in shaping public discourse and to refrain from inciting further division and hostility.

In these challenging times, we must unite in our commitment to protect our leaders and uphold the democratic values that define our great nation. The GRA stands firmly with President Trump and calls for an end to the political violence that threatens the fabric of our society.

To see the press release the GRA put out on this subject, click here.

Catoosa GOP Has Grounds to Appeal Federal Association & Speech Case

Catoosa GOP Has Grounds to Appeal Federal Association & Speech Case

Rome, GA — Federal Judge Billy Ray yesterday issued his opinion in an attempt to dismiss the Catoosa GOP case brought in federal court. At issue is the Catoosa GOP’s right of freedom of association and free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This dismissal provides grounds for the Catoosa GOP to appeal, and take the case to the next level in the federal court system for review, and that is exactly what they are going to do!

Joanna
Joanna Hildreth

“In spite of this hurdle,” said Catoosa GOP Chairwoman Joanna Hildreth, “we are going to continue to push this case forward and expect that we will prevail in the end!”

“We applaud the Catoosa GOP for continuing the fight for accountability within the GOP by appealing this dismissal,” said GRA President Nathaniel Darnell. “We feel confident that as this cases moves its way up in the appeals process, closer to the U.S. Supreme Court, the likelihood of the court ruling in their favor rises substantially due to the clear judicial precedent.”

As you may recall, back in March the Catoosa GOP conducted candidate qualifying and they implemented a new procedure that required all candidates wishing to run as a Republican to interview with the party officials to determine if the candidate shared Republican ideology. Four candidates who were incumbent commissioners with a record of raising taxes, restricting the rights of citizens to own chickens, or had endorsed a Democrat, were refused because the local party believed they did not meet the minimum qualification to be called a “Republican.”

Rather than running as Independents or Democrats, the four candidates chose to sue the local party, and a local judge ordered the board of elections to place the candidates on the Republicans Party primary ballot against the will of the party. 

Recent SCOTUS precedent on this subject have been unequivocal in protecting the rights of persons and entities in both their associations and their speech. If civil governments can get away with forcing a candidate to be able to run as a Republican, then that opens the flood-gates for violations of other associations. According to the same logic the government could force a Baptist Church to accept a Buddhist or Atheist as an ordained minister in their church. The government could require Coca-cola to have an executive from a corporate competitor like Pepsi on their Board! There is no limit to how association rights could be violated.

In the opinion, this lower court federal Judge here has taken the bait from the attorneys representing the R.I.N.O. candidates and attempted to dismiss the case supposedly on a lack of standing. The reasoning is that since the Catoosa GOP was not supposedly forced to qualify the candidates to run in the Republican Primary, but instead the government forced the BOE to go around the Catoosa GOP and allow them on the Republican primary ballot, that therefore the Catoosa GOP suffered no injury in being forced to associate as Republicans with the candidates.

Marr

Most people today consider the old “arranged” betrothal approach to marriage, where guardians selected their children’s marriage partner for them without their consent, as absurd. But that’s what you have here. The reasoning is like saying: “Your right to choose your marriage partner wasn’t violated because you didn’t make the choice on who you would marry. Your guardians made that decision for you.” Huh?

The opinion at least acknowledges that in the Dukes case precedent the state party was allowed to block a candidate from running as a Republican in a federal presidential election, but alleges that this is different here because this case involves counties. Again, huh? So a state party can block a candidate from running for nationwide office, but a county party cannot block a candidate from running for county office? Based on what line of reasoning? How is that equitable? The judge fails to explain.

Obviously, a county party cannot block a candidate from running for state or federal office. But that is not what we have here. In this case we have a county party operating totally within its jurisdiction to block only county candidates from running as Republicans in the county only.

The opinion furthermore cites a state law in an attempt to use it to super-cede constitutional law. We all know that constitutional law trumps statutory law. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-153 is cited, saying that “all candidates for party nomination in a state or county primary shall qualify as such candidates in accordance with the procedural rules of the their party” provided that the candidates meet the other statutory requirements (emphasis added). The argument the R.I.N.O. candidates’ attorneys have been making from the beginning is that candidates are only required to follow procedural requirements, and may not be subject to substantive requirements (i.e., whether they vote in accordance with Republican policy positions).

This line of argument assumes that substantive requirements and procedural requirements are necessarily mutually exclusive. They are not always. In the case of Catoosa GOP, the elected GOP committee voted to make a substantive review of a candidates’ past performance and messaging as part of the procedural requirements for running in the Republican primary. Procedurally in Catoosa, the county GOP has to vote to approve a candidate before they are allowed to qualify. It is similar to a church or denomination being able to reject an applicant for minister if they find evidence that suggests the applicant does not share their doctrines.

The Republican voters in Catoosa County elected the Catoosa GOP leadership with the power to set such procedures and to review such candidates so that they could inform the low-information Republican electorate in the community (who don’t have time to scrutinize the candidates) whether they will truly represent the minimum standards necessary for the Republican brand. It is a violation of the voter’s rights to steal this protective ability from their elected representatives.

Ballot Questions

The rest of the opinion deals with the ballot questions the Catoosa GOP submitted for the Catoosa Republican Primary ballot. The judge argues that the ballot questions may be blocked in this case because it’s the government who is providing the ballots that the Catoosa GOP is using. The idea is that the ballot questions might appear to be an endorsement of the Catoosa GOP’s speech by the government.

But ballot questions often present messages that are controversial about a plethora of subjects. Allowing the government to start screening and filtering out ballot questions on particular topics means that a government could effectively have the power to block any questions that dealt with something about which the government disagreed.

Support the Catoosa County Republican Party in this law-fare case by donating to their GiveSendGo here: https://www.givesendgo.com/supportjoannahildreth/.