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.
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.
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.
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!
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — President Donald J. Trump announced his pick for running mate: JD Vance from Ohio!
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance
We are particularly excited about this decision because at our NFRA Convention last year in Orlando, Florida, the NFRA delegates endorsed seven potential candidates for Vice President — and only J.D. Vance remained on the short-list.
We appreciate President Trump hearing our counsel and advice to have a better conservative like Vance on his team, rather than some of the other candidates who were on the short list. The Freedom Index, a scorecard provided by the John Birch Society, which upholds a high standard on a variety of issues, gives Vance an 86% voting record as a U.S. Senator.
Both former President Donald Trump and Senator Vance were both overwhelmingly nominated as the Republican nominees for President and Vice President in 2024 at the convention.
Not all Republicans are the same. What is the difference between a good Republican and a bad one?
One of the major distinctions between a GRA-endorsed candidate and a run-of-the-mill Republican is how the candidate would determine if a piece of legislation is good or bad.
(R to L) Former Congressman Paul Broun with his wife and former State Sen. Mike Crane
The esteemed former Congressman Dr. Paul Broun (GA-10) developed an excellent method of evaluating legislation that could serve as a model for any candidate. It was a simple four question test.
1) Is it Moral? 2) Is it Constitutional? 3) Do We Need it? 4) Can We Afford it?
Dr. Broun required the legislation to pass all four questions to receive his support. Using this grid, he earned the nickname “Dr. No” while serving in Congress because of the minuscule number of bills that passed his four question test and earned his “yes” vote.
Of course, all of these questions presuppose that the legislator has actually read the bill. In the event the legislative leadership places a large bill on your desk in the morning and expects you to vote on it by Noon, the default vote should be “No.”
In addition to Dr. Broun’s four question test, I imagine our founding fathers might ask these questions as well:
Does this legislation conform to the laws of nature? Is this legislation in harmony with the Law of nature’s God? Would this bill be just to all of my constituents?
The T-shirt most of the incumbent “Republicans” are handing out at their fundraisers this time of year. 😉
By contrast, the establishment RINO candidates have a strikingly different grid for evaluating legislation that goes something like this:
1) Does the Republican Leadership approve of this bill? 2) What would my large donors think about this bill? 3) Would this legislation advance my personal political career? 4) How is the mainstream media likely to characterize this bill? 5) Would I be criticized for supporting this bill? 6) Would I be marginalized by other legislators for supporting this bill?
Another factor to consider as we attend candidate forums this year is the character of the candidate. The Bible provides a divinely inspired list of qualifications for determining whether an elected official is worthy of being entrusted with authority. Exodus 18:21 says:
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:”
Following the Exodus of God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, Moses was tasked with implementing a system of government for adjudicating controversies among the 3 million former slaves of the fledgling nation. It was not a centralized government. It was decentralized. (See this article.) They established rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
This became the requirement for the rulers and judges over the people, at every level:
⁃ Able men (competence) ⁃ Fear God ⁃ Men of Truth ⁃ Hating Covetousness
Founding Father Noah Webster, who wrote the first American Dictionary, said: “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, ‘just men who will rule in the fear of God.’ The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws.” [Noah Webster, History of the United States (New Haven: Durrie & Peck, 1832), pp. 336-337.]
An inclination of magistrates to greed, corruption, accepting bribes or special interest lobbyists money has been a concern for more than 4,000 years. It crosses party lines and remains one of the major concerns among honest American voters today.
According to Exodus 18:21, one of the qualities you should look for in a civil magistrate is someone who has a righteous indignation and disgust for covetousness. Any candidate who truly hates covetousness is probably not, for example, going to be able to vote in good conscience for the Georgia budget next year without a massive overhaul to remove the corporate welfare handouts to Hollywood companies, among other things.
Similarly, lying politicians must have been a problem 4,000 years ago as well, because “men of truth” is another requirement. A commitment to the truth is vital among those leading in the civil realm. A man of truth keeps his campaign promises. A man of truth doesn’t tell constituents he is pro-life, then tell the feminists he supports abortion, and change his position a dozen times based on the audience present or the latest polling data.
These requirements, and the Law of God, became the foundation for the Hebrew Republic. Our founding fathers recognized the importance of these qualities as essential to the preservation of our constitutional republic. (See this article.)
So, as you attend candidate forums this year and consider which Republicans to support in the primary, try asking the candidates “If you were elected, how would you evaluate legislation?” And judge them by the Exodus 18:21 standard. What are some other questions that you have found useful? Please comment them below.
Canton, GA — Three GRA local chapters joined together last Saturday for a combined Regional Metro Endorsement Convention. Our North Metro RA Chapter (which includes Cherokee & Pickens counties), our Cobb RA chapter, and the Fulton RA chapter combined to hold a regional endorsement for local races in three congressional districts, spanning ten counties. Many GRA Members have been working for months to recruit candidates to primary RINOs and on Saturday they came together and endorsed ten candidates at this local endorsement convention.
Most of these legislative candidates at the event pledged to join the Georgia Freedom Caucus, affirmed their support for government accountability and indicated they would pattern their time in the legislature after State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade). State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee) also gave one of the keynote messages at the event, re-capping what happened during the recent legislative session, and called for more candidates to join the caucus.
GRA President Nathaniel Darnell, who presided over the regional endorsement convention, interviewed the candidates from the stage, and participating members took turns asking well-thought-out questions from the floor as well.
The GRA only endorsed candidates by a two-thirds majority of the voting members at a convention. Here below are the candidates endorsed at this regional convention:
Congratulations to former State Senator Mike Crane for winning the GRA’s endorsement last night in the 3rd Congressional District Republican Primary at the West Georgia Republican Assembly Endorsement Convention! Mike had a stellar record as a state legislator and has served as the 3rd District GA GOP Chairman since leaving office.
We expect that Mike Crane will make a big improvement to current Congressman Drew Ferguson. In 2016, Mike made it into a close runoff with Drew in the Republican primary for the same seat. Last year Ferguson fell under criticism for backing former U.S. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and going back on his pledge on who he would support to elect as McCarthy’s replacement.
Summerville, GA – Chattooga GOP Chair and GRA Member Jennifer Tudor announced a new bylaw amendment adopted by the county party in early November that specified how the Chattooga County GOP could exercise their accountability power and prevent known RINOs from running on the Republican ballot. Notice of the bylaw change was posted in the local courthouse for all to see. This ruffled quite a few feathers and made front page news in the rural community despite the fact that the Democrat Party of Chattooga County had previously exercised this same power to prevent a candidate from running on the Democrat ballot.
“Republican voters deserve truth and transparency. The Chattooga County GOP believes that when a candidate is labeled a Republican, they ought to represent the principles of the Republican Party such as limited government, low taxes, the right to life, gun rights, etc. (See GAGOP Platform: https://gagop.org/resolutions/).
“Should we be forced to accept a candidate who claims to be Republican but supports abortion, gun control, big government and high taxes?
“Struggling families in our community continue to be hurt by high taxes, inflation and wasteful government programs. Deceptive politicians should not be allowed to take advantage of poor, low information voters.
“With this bylaw in effect, the people of Chattooga county can rest confident knowing that, when a candidate runs on the Republican ballot, they will work to truly advance Republican policy.
“We believe, as members of the CCRP, we have a responsibility to the voters of Chattooga County to ensure the candidates on their Republican ballots are true Republicans that believe in the Republican platform. We strive to be worthy of this trust and believe this bylaw amendment will equip us to better serve the people of Chattooga County.”
The bylaw amendment establishes a “County Qualifying Committee” whose written approval is required before a candidate may be placed on the Republican ballot.
The statement from the Chattooga GOP also referenced the constitutional authority under which a political party may exercise this power – the First Amendment right to Freedom of Association. The statement included a quote from Justice William Brennan:
Jennifer Tudor and Charles Stoker
“There can be no clearer example of an intrusion into the internal structure or affairs of an association than a regulation that forces the group to accept members it does not desire. Such a regulation may impair the ability of the original members to express only those views that brought them together.”-Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609 (1984) U.S. Justice Brennan (also quoted by the late U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000)).
“RINO policies hurt real people,” said Nathaniel Darnell from the GRA. “GOP leaders shouldn’t just stand by and watch families and communities be destroyed by harmful policies and politicians masquerading under the Republican label. This is a big win for the accountability movement in our state and we applaud Jennifer and her team for their courage.”
Chattooga County is one of several counties where local Republican Party leaders have indicated they will begin exercising their accountability power and serving as the gatekeeper for the low information voters in their County.
Last week our GRA-endorsed candidates for GA GOP Executive Committee were out in force campaigning around the state.
They broadcasted as a group on The John Fredricks Show Thursday, May 18th, and you can now watch the recording here.
If you’re serving as a delegate or alternate to the GA GOP State Convention in Columbus in June, be sure to support our GRA-endorsed candidates for GA GOP Executive Committee! You can see a list of them on this image here:
Smyrna, GA — Last Saturday GRA members from across the state gathered at a convention to hear speeches from candidates running for GA GOP officer positions, and then to vote on whether to endorse any of those candidates. The GRA always requires a minimum of a 2/3rds majority from the participating membership in a vote to earn the endorsement, and an option of “no endorsement” is always an option.
Our GRA President Alex Johnsonkicked off the meeting with an excellent “State of the GRA” message, delineating the many accomplishments of the movement so far this GA GOP convention cycle, and the video of that message is now available for you to see on our YouTube channel here:
These GRA accomplishments have gained so much attention even nation-wide that they managed to attract the ire of the ultra uber-liberal New York Times in this article today. We wear the Times‘ attacks as a badge of honor.
Our Vetting Committee reached out to each of the state party candidates in advance and compiled a Vetting Committee report, which is available on our web site here. The participating GRA members voted to hold most of the endorsement votes by secret ballot and to allow for multiple ballots, eliminating the last-place finisher in each round.
We want to thank two of the candidates for Georgia Republican Party State Chairman, Josh McKoon and Rebecca Yardley, for coming in person to the Georgia Republican Assembly Endorsement Convention and asking for the GRA endorsement. Rebecca Yardley’s commitment to use her chairmanship to pressure the General Assembly to get rid of the Dominion machines was very well received. However, the endorsement vote was 123 to 14 in favor of Josh McKoon.
It’s been a good week for former State Senator Josh McKoon’s campaign for Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. On last Monday, he also won a straw poll of participants at the Cobb GOP Chairman’s Forum, 64%-35% over Rebecca Yardley.
We had many candidates travel from far and wide to participate in our Endorsement Convention, and we appreciate every one of them for coming and giving our members the chance and hear from them. Incumbent GA GOP Secretary Mike Welsh, for example, came with his wife all the way from Augusta, Georgia. Conservative Talk-Show host Brian Prichard from north Georgia also personally came and spoke, as did Brad Barnes from Rome.
Every single candidate who shared helped our members make a more informed decision on who to support in the up-coming GA GOP State Convention, and we thank them one and all.
We were also honored to have a surprise visit from the current GA GOP Chairman David Shaferfrom Gwinnett. Both he and our GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore (Dade) shared messages with our members, which you can watch here:
Click here to watch the message from our current GA GOP Chairman David Shafer.
Click to watch the message from our GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore.
In some of the races, multiple ballots had to be taken before the convention could settle on a winner. Three people are running for GA GOP 1st Vice Chair. So on the third ballot in that race, DeKalb GOP Chairwoman Marci McCarthy received the two-thirds necessary to win the endorsement. She is challenging incumbent B.J. Van Gundy.
In the race for 2nd Vice Chair of the GA GOP, the results were more decisive early on. Even though four candidates are running for that position, incumbent Brant Frost Vwon the endorsement by a ratio of more than 4-to-1 on the first ballot.
When it was all said and done, the GRA members voted for a full slate of endorsed candidates for every GA GOP Executive Committee position and even for the Over 80K and Under 80K Chairs. You can see the full list of our endorsed candidate below:
Treasurer: Vikki Consiglio (current GA GOP Assistant Treasurer)
Assistant Treasurer: Alton Russell (Columbus)
Over 80K Chair: Salleigh Grubbs (Cobb GOP Chair)
Under 80K Chair: Chris Mora (Pickens GOP Chair)
We hope that each of these candidates will be successful at bringing the reform so needed in our party: Returning to the principles, making the GOP an organization that opposes socialism in our camp, that confronts bad public policy, and confronts corrupt politicians even if they wear an “R” label. We need the Republican Party to stand up for election integrity, for medical freedom, for the vulnerable lives of the pre-born in the womb, for shielding our citizens from government stealing of our money and liberties, and for many other American principles.
The delegates who will vote on these races to determine if these candidates win election were already chosen at the Georgia Republican county conventions in early March of this year. Many of them are GRA members. They will gather in Columbus, Georgia for the GA GOP State Convention on Friday and Saturday, June 9th & 10th. Early registration for this state convention will be $110 per person. If you are a delegate or alternate to the GA GOP State Convention, and you have not yet pre-registered for the event, you can register at this link.
Beyond these Endorsement Convention results, today the GRA released the first public poll of delegates and alternates to the 2023 GAGOP convention, suggesting that our endorsed candidates have a strong chance of winning. The poll showed McKoon at 43% to 27% for Rebecca Yardley and 4% for Dennis Futch with 26% undecided.
GRA endorsed GAGOP Second Vice Chairman Brant Frost leads in the poll with 46% to 18% for Ken Carroll and 36% undecided.
GRA-endorsed candidates Marci McCarthy, Vikki Consiglio, Suzi Voyles, Alton Russell also lead in their races.
GRA Member Mike Welsh leads fellow GRA Member Caroline Jeffords by 29-18% with a massive 43% undecided.
Last Saturday, Republican Assembly members from Cobb, Cherokee, Pickens, Gwinnett, and Fulton counties met to hear speeches and interviews with candidates for District Party office in the 11th and the 6th—and to vote on endorsing many of these candidates!
Videos with the Congressional District GOP Chair & 1st Vice Chair candidates are available to view here and here, respectively. All Chair candidates who were not able to attend in person were also invited to submit a video presentation. Donna Watson, candidate for 6th District GOP Chairwoman, submitted a video on her candidacy, however Dr. Lisa Adkins, who is running for re-election as 11th District Chairwoman did not submit a video. Adkins is being challenged by attorney David Oles who attended. Watson has competition from Jerry Marrinich.
Click to watch the District Chairman Candidate panel.
Attorney David Oles wins the endorsement for 11th District GOP Chairman!
David Oles won the endorsement for 11th District GOP Chairman, but no candidate was able to get the two-thirds votes necessary to win endorsement in the 6th District GOP Chairman’s race.
For the 1st Vice Chairman’s race, attendees heard from Richard Jordan from Cherokee (running for 1st Vice Chairman in the 6th), Chris Mora from Pickens (running for re-election as 1st Vice Chairman in the 11th), and John Beville from Cobb (running for 1st Vice Chairman in the 6th). Absent was Joel Allen from Cobb who has also declared his candidacy in this race. You can watch the video of that candidate panel here.
Richard Jordan won the endorsement for 6th District GOP 1st Vice Chair and Chris Mora won the endorsement for 11th District GOP 1st Vice Chair.
Click to watch the District 1st Vice Chairman Candidate panel.
Attendees listening to the candidates at the GRA District Endorsement Convention
In addition to these candidates, attendees got to hear stump speeches from candidates for various officer positions in these two District organizations and from candidates for state committee. YouTube initially removed the video of these messages (for violating their “community guidelines” by making reference to election fraud) but it has been restored on our GRA YouTube channel, which you can currently watch here.
Click to see the stump speeches from the other candidates.
Below is a preliminary list of candidates who won endorsement at this Republican Assembly District Endorsement Convention for particular positions.
We hope this list will serve as a helpful guide for strong conservative Republican delegates wanting to get the best GOP leaders elected at the 6th & 11th GOP Congressional District Conventions this coming Saturday, April 22nd.
Endorsed District Candidates:
11th District GOP Chair: David Oles
11th District GOP 1st Vice Chair: Chris Mora
11th District GOP Vice Chairman of Communications: James Dvorak
11th District GOP Vice Chair of Events: No Endorsement
11th District GOP Vice Chair of Fundraising: Kelly Sirios
11th District GOP Treasurer: Ann Marie Cosway
11th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: Marcia Cox
11th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: Sandy Docherty
11th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: Todd Smith
11th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: Andy Reprieto
11th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: James Dvorak
11th District GOP State Committee from Cobb: Alicia Adams
11th District GOP State Committee from Pickens: Carolyn Childers
6th District GOP Chair: No Endorsement
6th District GOP 1st Vice Chair: Richard Jordan
6th District GOP Assistant Secretary: Katie Perry
6th District GOP Vice Chair: Siegfried Jucknies
6th District GOP State Committee from Cobb: Michael Optiz
6th District GOP State Committee from Cobb: Tess Redding
6th District GOP State Committee from Cherokee: Honey Burfield
Mike had a stellar record as a state legislator and has served as the 3rd District GA GOP Chairman since leaving office. 
