If you live in Cobb County or the surrounding area, be sure to check out the Cobb RA chapter’s county Endorsement Convention for local candidates on Saturday, April 30th at the Cobb GOP Headquarters!
Early-bird registration ends after this coming Friday, April 22nd!
Come hear candidates for local office running in the Republican primary speak, ask them questions, and then—if you’re a Cobb RA member—vote on whether to endorse a candidate for office! Everyone who registers is welcome to attend, but only members may vote.
Remember: It takes a two-thirds majority of the participating membership in order for a candidate to win endorsement of the county organization. Proxies are not permitted at endorsement conventions.
Date: Saturday, April 30th
Registration Early bird special: $20 (before April 22nd) (lunch included)
Late registration: $25 (after April 22nd) (lunch included)
Location: Cobb GOP Headquarters
Time: Opens at 10:00am / Business starts at 10:30am
Last week the NorthWest GRA chapter (NWGRA) completed their electronic endorsement convention for local candidates, confirming many of those recommended at the state convention, and adding several others.
Congratulations to the following candidates for receiving the NWGRA endorsement! These candidates automatically receive the Georgia Republican Assembly endorsement as well:
• State Senate District 52: Derek Keeney
• State Senate District 53: Colton Moore
• State Senate District 54: Doug Keener
• State House District 1: Jackie Harling
• State House District 2: Jim Coles
• State House District 3: Mitchell Horner
• State House District 4: Nick Voyles
• State House District 5: No Endorsement
• State House District 6: No Endorsement
• Catoosa County Commission District 2: Britt Fant
• Catoosa County Commission District 4: Charlie Stephens
Catoosa is the only county in the NWGRA chapter that has a GRA County Chairman to facilitate the vetting, but they anticipate having more county chairmen in the future. Keep an eye out for upcoming posts from the NWGRA on their Facebook page about each of the endorsed candidates!
Newnan, GA— GRA members from all over the state met on Saturday, April 2nd at the Newnan Centre to hear speeches from candidates and vote on endorsements. The event was called to order at 10:00am and wrapped before 5:00pm with Chick-fil-A lunch included.
Over 300 tickets were sold to this GRA Convention. Under the rules of the organization, a candidate may only be endorsed if he receives at least a 2/3rds vote of the participating membership. A vote for “no endorsement” is always an option.
Here are the official results of the 2022 GRA Endorsement Convention:
GRA Candidates Endorsed for State House
State House District 1: Jackie Harling (pending chapter approval) *
State House District 12: Robert Watson (Chattooga County)
Challenging Republican incumbent Eddie Lumsden with a vote score of “F” 38% (2019) and “F” 35% (2020)
State House District 13: Luke Martin (Floyd County area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Katie Dempsey with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019) and “F” 39% (2020)
State House Distrct 17: Neil Wolin (Paulding County area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Martin Momtahan with a vote score of “C” 50% (2019), and “D” 45% (2020)
State House District 20: Charlice Byrd (Cherokee County) (incumbent)
State House District 22: Jordan Ridley (Cherokee County area)
State House District 23: Allen Hutchinson (Waleska / Cherokee area)
State House District 83: Catherine Bernard (DeKalb County area)
State House District 100: David Clark (Buford area) (incumbent)
State House District 108: Johnny Crist (Lilburn area)
State House District 117: Noelle Kahaian (McDonough & Griffin)
State House District 144: Jayson Stonne (Macon area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Dale Washburn with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019)and “D” 41% (2020)
State House District 164: Chasity Pawvlik (Savannah area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Ron Stephens with a vote score of “D” 48% (2019) and “F” 36% (2020)
State House District 175: Bill Blanchard (Valdosta area)
Challenging Republican incumbent John LaHood with a vote score of “C” 51% (2019) and “F” 35% (2020)
State House District 178: Cason Carbaugh (Blackshear area)
Challenging Republican incumbentSteven Meeks with a vote score of “F” 39% (2019) and “D” 43% (2020).
The number of endorsed candidates running for State House was particularly encouraging since virtually every one of these candidates pledged to not support David Ralston for re-election as Speaker of the House, if elected as a State Representative. Many of them also spoke against H.B. 1013.
* Under GRA rules, where a local race has an operational county or regional RA chapter, that chapter has primary jurisdictional authority to vote on endorsement of candidates. While this candidate was approved by the state convention, this approval must be finalized by the approval of the local chapter’s participating membership before it is made official.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for State Senate
State Senate District 3: Jeff Jones (Brunswick area)
State Senate District 6: Angelic Moore (Smyrna & Sandy Springs area)
State Senate District 17: Brett Mauldin (McDonough area)
Challenging Republican incumbent Brian Strickland with a vote score of “B” 63% (2018), “D” 42% (2019), and “C” 54% (2020).
State Senate District 18: Dianne Vann (Macon area)
* Under GRA rules, where a local race has an operational county or regional RA chapter, that chapter has primary jurisdictional authority to vote on endorsement of candidates. While this candidate was approved by the state convention, this approval must be finalized by the approval of the local chapter’s participating membership before it is made official.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for U.S. Congress
Candidate Surrea Ivy
Congressional District 1: No endorsement
Congressional District 2: Vivian Childs
Congressional District 3: Jared Craig
Congressional District 4: Surrea Ivy
Congressional District 5: No endorsement
Congressional District 6: No endorsement
Congressional District 7: Dr. Lisa Babbage (write-in)
Congressional District 8: No endorsement
Congressional District 9: Michael Boggus
Congressional District 10: No endorsement
Congressional District 11: No endorsement
Congressional District 12: No endorsement
Congressional District 13: Caesar Gonzales
Congressional District 14: Marjorie Taylor Greene(incumbent) (unanimous vote)
Marjorie Taylor Greene at the event.
GRA Endorsed Candidates for State Office
Public Service Commissioner: Tim Echols
Insurance Commissioner: Patrick Witt
Labor Commissioner: Bruce Thompson
State School Superintendent: No endorsement
Attorney General: John Gordon
Secretary of State: Jody Hice
Lt. Governor: Burt Jones
GRA Endorsed Candidates for Top Ballot Offices
U.S. Senator: Kelvin King
Georgia Governor: No endorsement
In the race for Governor, both David Perdue and Kandiss Taylor performed strongly, but each candidate had an even number of votes, so neither received the two-thirds necessary to earn the GRA endorsement.
Candidate for Governor, Kandiss TaylorGRA endorsed candidate for U.S. Senator Kelvin King
