Category: conventions
Cobb RA Panel with Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership

Cobb RA Panel with Georgia Freedom Caucus Leadership

The Cobb County Republican Assembly enjoyed a great county convention last Monday for as local officers were elected & attendees got to hear from Georgia Freedom Caucus leadership State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade), State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee), Mallory Staples, & Blake Bassham on the dynamics of politics at the state capitol. They discussed up-coming legislative efforts, including ones to revise the RICO laws and provide relief for the alternate electors.

Our friends at TurningPointUSA also held a table at that event and shared about their initiative to increase voter registration.

Those who missed the event can now watch the video interview with State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade) presented that evening here:

Thanks to everyone who came and participated! Here are some photos from the Cobb RA convention:

Next GRA State Convention: December 9th

Next GRA State Convention: December 9th

The GRA is pleased to host its next state convention on December 9th at Coweta Community Church – 310 Millard Farmer Industrial Blvd, Newnan, GA 30263. All principled Republicans and conservatives are invited to register and attend. The only persons allowed to vote or participate at the convention are dues-paid members who have been accepted and approved pursuant to GRA procedures before 10:00 AM on Saturday, November 9th, 2023, and register for the convention.

The Educational and Training Portion of the Program shall start at 10 AM. Business and voting may begin after 12 PM on Saturday, December 9th, 2023.

Chick-fil-a packed lunch is expected to be included in the cost of registration. Convention registration is available here. All proceeds go to our GRA-PAC efforts to win next year’s election. Early Bird Registration Expires on Dec 2nd. Our PAC, GRA-PAC, is co-sponsoring the convention and handling registration. 

Here are the important details on this state-wide GRA event:

Georgia Republican Assembly Convention:
Location: Coweta Community Church
Address: 310 Millard Farmer Industrial Blvd, Newnan, GA 30263
Cost: $15 early-bird \ $20 late registration
Time: 10am, December 9th
Lunch included

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE GRA STATE CONVENTION.

Results from the NFRA Convention in Orlando, Florida

Results from the NFRA Convention in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, FL — Over last weekend, GRA members gathered with other Republican Assembly members from as far away as Hawaii for the NFRA Endorsing Convention held at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Florida from October 13 to October 15, 2023. This national grassroots organization consists almost exclusively of unpaid volunteers from all parts of the country, including Puerto Rico, and they took decisive steps to shape the future of conservative leadership in America with their latest endorsements. In addition, they gathered to adopt resolutions and additions to the NFRA platform, and to elect officers.

Members from Georgia made up the largest delegation at the convention with 32 delegates participating—even surpassing the delegations from Florida and California! As with the GRA, it takes a minimum two-thirds majority vote of the participating membership to win the NFRA’s endorsement.

Congressman Jim Jordan Wins the NFRA Endorsement for Speaker of the U.S. House

Jim Jordan

At this significant convention, U.S.Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) received a unanimous endorsement for the role of Speaker of the House of Representatives. His unwavering dedication to upholding constitutional values and proven leadership skills made him the standout choice for the U.S. House’s vital position.

This endorsement comes just before the U.S. House is expected to vote today on whether to elect Jordan as Speaker. Over the weekend, holdouts against Jordan have announced a change of mind, including Republican Congressmen from Georgia such as Austin Scott (R-GA’s 8th District) who attempted to run against Jordan in the Republican Caucus for the Speakership nomination.

Matt Gaetz

Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida had been scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the NFRA Convention, but he was not able to leave Washington, D.C. due to the flurry to negotiate support for Jordan over the weekend. Gaetz instead called into the NFRA Convention and expressed support for their work and for Jordan. “I wish I was there with you rather than here in Washington, D.C.,” Gaetz told the crowd, “but we’re doing very important work, making sure that we get a Speaker who can advance Republican priorities. … Balanced budgets and programatic review of how we spend the taxpayer dollars.”

He added to standing applause: “We are still at the Capitol having small group meetings to bring every element of our conference together to elect Jim Jordan the next Speaker of the House!”

Americans await in suspense to see whether Jim Jordan will get the 217 votes needed to win election as the U.S. House Speaker.

NFRA Delegates Enthusiastically Endorse Donald Trump

Donald Trump speaking at NFRA Convention

In addition to Jordan, NFRA delegates overwhelmingly voted to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States. These Republican Assembly members believe that these two men have the courage and fortitude to put America first ahead of lobbyists, corporations and foreign nations. We believe these men have what it takes to stand up to the uni-party. 

Some RA members, such as Mark Minich of Connecticut, were less enthusiastic about the Trump endorsement decision particularly because of mistakes they believe he made in 2020, expanding the national debt particularly with the CARES Act, mailing wealth redistribution checks, promoting Dr. Fauci, and his apparent back-pedaling on the sanctity of life following the media backlash received after the overturn of Roe v Wade. Not to mention his bump-stock ban relating to gun rights. Opponents of the endorsement feared Trump does not consistently hold to the principles and political philosophy of the Republican Assembly.

However, these concerns were overcome in the minds of most of the participating delegates due to former President Trump’s reputation for aggressively fighting the deep state, and by the sheer paranoia the Left displays at his leadership. Supporters voiced particular appreciation for his U.S. Supreme Court appointments, his success at keeping America out of war, and his tax cuts. The baseless indictments and petty attempts at impeachment of him only continue to endear Trump to Republican voters. 

Election Integrity Workshops a Huge Success at the NFRA Convention

Sam Carnline with GeorgiansforTruth leading a workshop illustrating one of the ways paper ballots can be counted in an election.

The Georgia Republican Assembly delegation in attendance included many of the leaders from the chapters in south Georgia, including Jeff Jones, the Coastal RA President, Ginny Hall and Joy Turner, members of the Coastal chapter’s executive team. Georgia election integrity leaders Holly Kesler and Field Searcy led a workshop on election integrity featuring a simulation of a paper ballot hand count at the precinct level, using two different methods.

Holly Kesler stressed the need for decentralization of elections and greater involvement and volunteer participation at the precinct level. This workshop was very well received and appreciated by patriots from around the country. 

Mike Lindell speaks Saturday evening

Speakers at the convention included Mike LindellAlex NewmanDr. Douglas FrankCaptain Seth KeshelMat Staver, Tom Homan, Brigitte Gabriel, and a panel of whistleblowers addressing corruption within the DOJ.

GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V chaired the Resolutions Committee, which, in addition to resolutions, presented an exhaustive platform document. The committee welcomed input from all NFRA members, many of whom have done extensive research on public policy and become near experts on the issues important to them. They also presented a resolution regarding the “natural born citizen” requirement for presidential candidates, urging activists:

RESOLVED, it is the will of this convention that only candidates who meet the natural born-citizenship standard, interpreted through an originalist and strict constructionist standard, be placed on the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballots.”

NFRA Welcomes New Chapter: South Carolina Republican Assembly

Jeff Davis introduces himself as the new chartering President of the South Carolina Republican Assembly

During the NFRA Convention Board meeting, leaders from across the country were excited to approve the charter for a new South Carolina chapter. Additionally, patriots from Louisiana attended the event and expressed eagerness to also charter a chapter in their state. This represents notable progress toward the goal of establishing strong Republican Assembly chapters in each state of the union that will provide accountability to their state government and bring reform to their state GOP. Please urge your patriot friends and family in other states to consider connecting with the Republican Assembly chapter in their state.

Additionally, the NFRA Board elected executive officers to serve the NFRA for the next two years. GRA President Alex Johnson was elected unanimously to serve another term as NFRA President. GRA Members James Jordan and Nathaniel Darnell were also elected to leadership positions within the NFRA.

GA GOP Moves in the RIGHT Direction with Election of New Officers

GA GOP Moves in the RIGHT Direction with Election of New Officers

Columbus—A whopping 2,057 delegates from across the state assembled at the GA GOP State Convention last weekend, taking up business to continue to improve the Republican Party in our state. They also were excited to hear former President Donald Tump provide the keynote address on Saturday afternoon.

Some business was completed and other business was left undone. The main accomplishment of the convention was that delegates swept out of all of the most outspoken, obstructionist, and antagonistic officers or candidates promoting the interests of the Atlanta Establishment. The immediate list of GA GOP Executive Committee members (apart from the District Chairs), went from having five hard-core Establishment people to having only one. That is impressive improvement!

This election was a clear example of the success of the accountability movement. Conservatives have been slowly making gains each convention for the last 10 years, and now have clearly tipped the scales. The political industry lost it’s grip on the GA Republican Party. 

Our volunteer GRA members handed out thousands of brochures and stickers for our endorsed candidates, gave away hundreds of educational books, sold lots of fun SWAG, and promoted several of our initiatives at our vendor table and in the hallways at the event throughout the weekend. Networking and meeting like-minded patriots from around the state is always a delight at these state conventions that bring Republicans together from every corner of Georgia.

GRA-Endorsed Winners

The GRA-endorsed candidate for State Party Chairman Josh McKoon won his race with 54% of the vote! A highly-rated former State Senator, Josh ran promising to build upon the success of Chairman Shafer by uniting factions, raising funds for “law-fare,” and continuing the fight for election integrity in Georgia. The GRA also saw three other of its GRA-endorsed candidates win election to the GA GOP Executive Committee. One of them, Cobb GOP Chairwoman and GRA member Salleigh Grubbs, won election as the new Over 80K Chair on Friday afternoon. Caroline Jeffords from Fulton County was another GRA-endorsed candidate who soundly won her election for GA GOP Secretary with 59% of the vote. Caroline has been lauded as an election-integrity heroine by taking the lead as a plaintiff on one of the first lawsuits filed after the 2020 election, and her case is still pending. Another big win came for GRA-endorsed candidate Suzi Voyles — an Eagle Forum leader and legend for election integrity — who was elected by a land-slide 80% of the vote as the new Assistant Secretary!

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What happened with the Accountability Rule?

What happened with the Accountability Rule?

Some delegates left the convention on Saturday night when it adjourned around 8:30pm wondering aloud, “Whatever happened to the proposed Accountability Rule?” The behind-the-scenes story began when the proposal was submitted to the convention Rules Committee. It has been reported that the convention Rules Committee this year was essentially the same as the permanent Rules Committee for the GA GOP over the last two-year term. That is significant because it means that our newly elected District Chairs from across the state have not yet had the opportunity to nominate replacement members to the Rules Committee.

With the old Rules Committee members still in control in spite of the changes that were won over the last several months at the district conventions, the Establishment majority on that committee voted to block the Accountability Rule from getting out of committee and on the floor of the convention for any review, discussion, amendment, or vote.

Many of the delegates were disturbed by the convention rules submitted to the body which included a requirement that rules and resolutions brought from the floor would only be considered if they received a 2/3 majority vote and even then only “without debate.” This language was troubling since it silences the delegates ability to freely exchange ideas and removes their ability to direct and have influence on the party. 

GRA leadership made a valiant effort to get the convention rules amended so that the Accountability Rule could be brought up on the floor of the convention, but the presiding convention Chairman State Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Columbia) blocked it by violating Robert’s Rules of Order so as to prevent any change to the convention rules or the order of the agenda.

NFRA Directors attorney Catherine Bernard(DeKalb) and Nathaniel Darnell (Cobb) each made motions on the floor to amend the proposed convention rules, which were seconded.

Roberts Rules requires that motions to amend be discussed and voted on before the body can vote on the originally proposed item. (See e.g, Robert’s Rules, 12th Edition § 6.5(2).) But Fleming skipped over the votes to amend and proceeded directly to vote on the original proposal without discussing or voting on the amendments. After the body voted to approve the original convention rules, a motion was made to appeal the decision of the convention Chairman. But Fleming did not ask the body to vote on whether his attempt to skip over the amendments was valid; instead, he asked them to affirm whether he counted the vote to approve the original proposal correctly!

When delegates called “Division!” Chairman Fleming ignored it and moved forward with his original call based solely on his eyeballing of the standing votes in the narrow hall. The bright lights and numerous pillars blocked his view almost entirely of the delegates in the back of the hall, and rather than having the sergeant-at-arms manually count the delegates row by row in the aisles—which is what the motion of “division” requires, he ignored it. This led to many delegates complaining that his perception of the votes were grossly inaccurate, and electronic handheld clicker devices were used to tabulate all other votes in the convention thereafter.

As a Republican state legislator, Chairman Fleming would himself be subject to the Accountability Rule, were it to be successful. This conflict of interest did not go unnoticed by advocates of the rule change, some of whom believed the Accountability Rule was the most urgent and consequential business to be addressed at the convention. 

The gridlock over the Accountability Rule led out-going Chairman David Shafer to propose a resolution to the GA GOP State Committee on Thursday which called for his successor Josh McKoon to appoint a committee to review the Accountability Rule and other similar solutions, to investigate their implications, and to make a recommendation by October of this year. That resolution passed out of the state committee. Chairman Shafer said that the resolution was “binding” on the next Chairman. McKoon promised that he would appoint attorney and GRA President Alex Johnson, the original author of the Accountability Rule, to that committee.

In previous years, resolutions have been passed to appoint similar committees, and nothing has come from it. We will see if the GA GOP makes good on their word this time.

GOP Industry Tries to Block a Rule to Empower You!

GOP Industry Tries to Block a Rule to Empower You!

Today, I’m excited to share with you the proposed rules changes (link) (link part 2: discourages lawsuits) submitted to the GAGOP for consideration by Delegates at the State GOP convention. If debated and voted on, these changes will empower you to demand that certain politicians uphold the GAGOP brand and the “Republican” title by standing for what they promised the voters.

Sadly, it’s clear that the GOP Establishment wants to keep you from taking part in leadership. They want you to blindly follow their orders and support whoever pays the media establishment and paid political industry to win a primary, regardless of actions or beliefs. They disdain your opinions and seek to undermine your involvement in the party. 

To uncover this hidden agenda, look no further than the following (clickable links provided for more information):

1. The Georgia Republican Party platform closely mirrors the Georgia Republican Assembly’s principles.

2. These mainstream Republican principles are supported by the public and align with current and past National Republican Party platforms.

3. The RNC, led and run by many paid political industry members, re-elected Ronna McDaniel, despite almost uniform opposition from Republican voters and activists.

4. The AJCNew York TimesRedStateRawStoryThe Daily Beast, and numerous other paid political industry friendly sites have published articles falsely claiming that the proposed rules changes are “radical,” “far-right,” or extreme, despite their mainstream status. These changes don’t focus at all on past elections, but simply demand that politicians be accountable to you in the future.

The paid political industry is afraid of you and your power to make a change, resorting to lies disseminated through their media machine and political industry operatives. They’ll falsely claim the change is exclusionary, despite its result of increased party involvement by empowering convention delegates and not allowing any subsets (such as the state or executive committees, which could be easily swayed with money, jobs, or favors) to have that responsibility. They’ll argue that you can’t prohibit candidates from identifying as Republican, even though other state parties have done so and there’s a U.S. Supreme Court case establishing the right of private organizations like political parties to choose their associates pursuant to the First Amendment.

Now is your chance to make a stand. If you’re content with the status quo, where there’s a 99% incumbent re-election rate and politicians repeatedly lie and fail to enact the Republican platform, let this opportunity slip away. If you want accountability from elected Republican politicians, get involved in the GAGOP, attend the state convention, elect GRA endorsed candidates, and ensure that the proposed rules changes are debated and passed. Demand explicit assurances from GAGOP officer candidates that they will vote for these rules changes to empower you to hold politicians accountable.

Together, we can reshape the political landscape. Thank you for your continued dedication and support!

Mallory Staples Responds to “Republican” Legislators Griping about Being Reprimanded for Voting for H.B. 520

Mallory Staples Responds to “Republican” Legislators Griping about Being Reprimanded for Voting for H.B. 520

In a recent newsletter we reported about how multiple GOP Congressional District Conventions passed resolutions reprimanding those “Republican” legislators who voted in favor of the awful “Mental Health” H.B. 520 while commending the few Republicans who voted against it.

Several state legislators present at the 14th District GOP Convention reportedly walked out after learning about the resolution. State Rep. Mike Cameron (R-Walker) turned to the airwaves to belly-ache about the resolution on a local podcast show from Floyd County. He claimed the characterization of H.B. 520 was erroneous and complained about not being treated with more respect as a legislator at the convention. Meanwhile, elected representatives who took strong stands for Republican principles such as State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade) and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green (CD-14) were greeted by the convention as rockstars.

Cameron said he is so offended by the grassroots in northwest Georgia that he intends to boycott the GA GOP State Convention.

In response to the show, the Georgia Freedom Caucus‘ Executive Director Mallory Staples responded to these complaints and mischaracterizations of the legislation, taking to the John Fredricks Show and other programs to defend the resolution and affirm the problems with H.B. 520.

In particular, one thing Mallory pointed out was that the first “Mental Health Parity Bill” H.B. 1013 from the previous legislative session cost the state an estimated $1 billon in taxpayer funding, and now its follow-up H.B. 520 would cost another estimated $80 million to the taxpayer, if passed. (H.B. 520 is presently sitting dormant in the State Senate until next year’s legislative session.)

During the legislative session, we heard many people from the political industry in the Atlanta Establishment say that we didn’t need to pass anymore Election Integrity legislation this year because Georgia had just passed S.B. 202 in 2021. They said that we didn’t need to pass Senator Colton Moore’s Second Amendment Preservation Act (S.B. 67) because Georgia had just passed the “Constitutional Carry” bill in 2022. They said we didn’t need to pass the pro-life Prenatal Equal Protection Act because Georgia had just passed the “Heartbeat Bill” in 2019.

However, these same political industry types had no objection to the legislature trying to pass another omnibus Mental Health bill only one year after H.B. 1013 was adopted!

Some point to reports of recent mass shootings as as an illustration of the need for the state to pad the wallets of Big Pharma, take away people’s liberties, and steal more of the taxpayer’s money through such programs as Medicaid expansions. (Remember how folks voted against Democrat Stacey Abrams because she wanted to expand Medicaid in Georgia?) Yet this is actually an example of the civil government trying to fix a problem that the government has created.

When the state prohibits children from learning the Bible or having prayer in our schools, and indoctrinates them that they evolved by random chance due to no divine purpose or design, and are just chemicals and atoms bouncing off of each other, and there is no transcendent morality; when it tells them from an early age to be worried about global warming and how the earth could become uninhabitable and lead to everyone’s death, and then tries to suppress their resulting anxiety by prescribing these children with drugs until they are dependent; when it tries to pit “white people” against people with other colors of skin; when the state engages in these kinds of practices, it is no wonder that our youth are experiencing mental health issues. It is a problem the state created, and it is a problem the state will only make worse.

The solution is less statism, not more. The solution involves looking to our Creator God and not the false-god of the state.