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. 

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.

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.

Ringgold, GA — On Tuesday evening, the Republican delegates of the Catoosa County Republican Convention elected a full pro-accountability slate of officers in spite of heavy opposition from the rejected RINO Catoosa County Commissioners and other government employees.

The fake Republican commissioners, who sued the local party after being denied a place on the Republicans primary ballot last year, but were forced on by a local judge, mounted a force of nearly 100 people at the county convention of 214 to attempt to take over the party and neutralize any future accountability efforts. The stakes were high for both sides. If successful in seizing the Catoosa Republican Party leadership, the Commissioners could have ended the “freedom of association” lawsuit which is currently pending in the federal 11th Circuit Court. But the commissioners plans were thwarted by the accountability oriented local patriots who showed up in greater numbers.

“It was a victory for the grassroots and the Republicans that worked so hard to elect President Trump and J.D. Vance,” Chairwoman Joanna Hildreth told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. “I’m just thrilled that we had a victory tonight, because it just reinforces all the hard work that they’ve done and they’re ready to keep doing.”

The patriot activists at the Catoosa Precinct Caucus a month earlier had successfully blocked one of the rejected RINO commissioner candidates from being a delegate, but the other four commissioners were among the delegates leading the attempted take over.

The commissioners’ contingent included the county manager, the clerk, the county C.F.O., 4 of the 5 school board members, the school superintendent, the Mayor of Fort Oglethorpe, a city council member, various appointed county board members, a couple of lobbyists including former State Senator Jeff Mullis (whom Sen. Colton Moore replaced). Not to mention a judge’s wife and another judge’s executive director. These government employees know that it is nigh impossible to get elected to local office unless they qualify as a Republican on the ballot in rural counties like Catoosa. These people, along with their families, composed a pretty formidable crowd. The battle lines were drawn disctinctly between fed up tax-payers and tax-dollar recipients who work for the local civil government in some capacity. It was truly “the swamp” versus the people.

“Today the Republican voters of Catoosa County declared that they support the GOP holding politicians accountable, by re-electing GRA-member Joanna Hildreth and members of her team!” said Nathaniel Darnell, GRA President. “This convention provides demonstrable proof that the majority of Republican voters support their local party leadership acting on their behalf and exercising the right to freedom of association.”

Long lines filled the hallways of the small town event center as delegates got credentialed, with wait times resembling the GOP conventions of much larger counties like Cobb or Cherokee due to the sheer volume.

The tension in the room was thick from the beginning and peaked when it came time to elect a convention chairman. The 14th District GOP Chairwoman Denise Burns (also a GRA member) was nominated, followed by Jeremy Jones, a public defender attorney on the payroll of the government, and the previous Catoosa County Party Chairman. Both sides knew that this vote was a microcosm for the entire convention and would reflect the voting strength of the two sides.

A standing vote was called, and Denise Burns squeaked out ahead with a vote of 111 to 103 — an eight vote lead!

This proved that the community engagement and brave example of the Catoosa GOP leadership had grown the party and inspired many new members. The Catoosa GOP’s bold opposition to tax increases, cronyism and the tyrannical chicken ordinance had attracted and informed more and more voters who were united by their shared principles and their intense opposition to the tyranny they had experienced from their local government.  

Chairwoman Joanna Hildreth reported that in 2023 the Catoosa GOP set an all time record for the highest attendance at their county convention, and this year’s precinct caucus exceeded that record!

After the vote to elect Denise Burns as convention chairman, members from the government employees group, realizing they didn’t have the numbers, tried to make a motion to adjourn. That motion was ruled out of order, and the supporters of the RINO commissioners, who had been somewhat racous and disorderly all along, got angry and stormed out of the convention hall following the new convention Chairwoman’s refusal to recognize the outburst of an enraged delegate ranting from the floor.

They were done. A crowd of 50 or more people all vacated their seats and gathered in the hallway outside the convention hall to rant and perhaps regroup.  But most never returned to their seats, giving an easy victory to Joanna Hildreth and her slate, as the business of the convention continued without them. This rash emotional decision to leave left no opposition to the nominating committee’s slate of officers, the slate of delegates to the District and State conventions, and no opposition to the 14 resolutions — five of which banned and censured the RINO commissioners by name!

Click here to read the 14 Resolutions that passed in Catoosa.

These resolutions articulated the citizens’ grievances with the un-Republicans’ policies and the actions of past Commissioners Steven Henry, Chuck Harris, Jeff Long, Vanita Hullander, and Larry Black, and officially “expelled” them from the party — banning them from qualifying as candidates of the Catoosa County Republican Party in any capacity. The resolution also demands that the commissioners “cease and desist” from calling themselves a “Republican.” This was not a decision of the party leadership but of the entire delegation at the county convention, and they were met with thunderous applause.

Other resolutions included one that condemned and censured the local Catoosa civil government for taking away personal property rights of citizens who want to raise chickens on their private property. Another resolved to block from qualifying any legislator who votes in favor of Sen. Ed Setzler’s (R-Cobb) S.B. 15 or any other legislation to make local partisan races non-partisan. This legislation appears to be a direct attack on the Republican Party, an attempt to shield legislators from any accountability, and an attempt to conceal from voters the ideological leaning of candidates.

County Republican Party organizations receive a significant amount of income from candidates when they pay their qualifying fee. Making local races non-partisan would also cut off that income from the local party and instead give any fees to the government.

This is just another example of the disdain, disloyalty and hostility elected officials have shown to the GOP, the party of which they claim to be a member.

If the commissioners and their supporters at the Catoosa Convention hadn’t been so heated and emotional, they might could have still accomplished some of their agenda. If one member of their group had attended a GRA Convention training, they might have known how to succeed.

It is remarkable that, with so many commissioners and school board members in the room, they were not more adept at knowing the appropriate motions to achieve the outcome they desired.

We, however, are grateful that in God’s kind providence, good leadership will continue in Catoosa — as will the lawsuit to protect the GOP’s “freedom of association” provided for in the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Columbus — Over 1,300 delegates from across the state assembled at the GA GOP State Convention last weekend, electing the remaining 14 At-Large National Delegates and Alternates from Georgia to the Republican National Convention, electing the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman, and voting on proposed resolutions.

GRA members garnered some big wins at the convention! Six more of the 14 at-large delegates elected Saturday to the Republican National Convention are GRA members. Joanna Hildreth, our GRA Secretary and the Chair of the Catoosa GOP (which has been bravely fighting the County Commission candidate qualifying battle) was one of the delegates that was endorsed by former President Donald Trump ahead of time.

GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V and GRA member Caroline Jeffords were both elected to serve as the sole GA GOP representatives on the Republican National Convention’s Rules Committee — arguably the most influential committee at the National Convention.

These positions will be key as the RNC in Milwaukee looks at making several significant improvements on the rules of the national Republican organization this year. One proposal, for example, would apportion congressional districts with more Republican voters with more national delegates in the future. This would mean a district like Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s or Andrew Clyde‘s would receive more delegates than a highly Democrat-populated district like Nancy Pelosi‘s in California. Right now, all congressional districts get an even number of three delegates.

In addition, GRA members Suzi Voyles and Josh McKoon (also the GA GOP Chairman) were elected to the Republican National Platform & Resolutions Committee. Their leadership will be key in guarding our national Republican platform, which is the contract between the Republican Party and the grassroots. We are counting on them ensuring that the national platform does not get watered down from the shining standard it has been over the last 48 years to guard “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” in America. Please pray for them.

In the race for National Committeeman, GRA member Jason Thompson was re-elected. He had been challenged by GRA member Jason Frazier and David Cross. When Frazier came in third place by one vote on the first ballot, many Frazier supporters voted for Thompson on the second ballot, which put Thompson over the top. Jason Thompson was first elected to the position of National Committeeman by the GA GOP State Committee in 2017.

But the incumbent did not win in the National Committeewoman’s race. Ginger Howard was challenged by election integrity activists Amy Kremer and Shawn Cross. On the first ballot, Mrs. Cross was eliminated, and on the second ballot it appears most of her supporters voted for Kremer, who defeated Howard.

In January 2021, Kremer’s organization Women for America First hosted a “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. while, she says, the RNC was at the Ritz Carlton. Amy is a fighter, who prioritizes activism over cocktail parties.  Amy and her team didn’t tell anyone to go into the Capitol on January 6th, and didn’t go there herself, but nevertheless she and ten others affiliated with the group were subpoenaed by the House Select Committee.

We’ve had some people reach out and ask us why the GRA-PAC‘s name appeared on an auto-response opt-out text that had apparently been sent out from the Georgia Examiner, pointing to an article about 2nd Vice Chair David Cross voting against the GA GOP endorsing Donald Trump for President back in January. Cross is currently a candidate for GA GOP National Committeeman.

The Georgia Examiner is not an affiliate of the GRA or the GRA-PAC. While some of our members may be involved in the Georgia Examiner, we did not authorize the Georgia Examiner to send out texts using the name of our organization or of our PAC. After making inquiries, it seems that the reason for this error was that a third-party who has provided texting services for both the GRA-PAC and the Georgia Examiner accidentally forgot to clear their software after they provided a texting service for one of our endorsed candidates the GRA-PAC was promoting. The third-party failed to remove the GRA-PAC’s name from the automatically generated opt-out response when it set up the texting project for the Georgia Examiner.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. The GRA membership voted to not endorse in this year’s National Committeeman race, but you can see the forum we held with National Committeeman candidates on our YouTube Channel here.