Georgia Republican Assembly President Alex Johnson released the following statement: “Please join us as we pray for the community of Uvalde, Texas—deeply impacted by the tremendous loss of life, 19 children and 2 adults. Our hearts are heavy for the grieving families, the injured, children and staff who witnessed the tragedy and the pastors and ministers who will walk with them through this difficult time. We are grateful for the actions of the first responders and volunteers who stepped in and for the community at-large for coming together to support each other.”
The Bible says in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are they who mourn and they shall be comforted.”
We regret that Democrats such as President Joe Biden have sought to politicize this tragedy by using it as an opportunity call for more gun regulation. This sad event happened in a “gun free zone” which ought to demonstrate to everyone how useless such gun regulations are in protecting victims. To the contrary, such laws make the law-abiding vulnerable sitting ducks to those who desire to cause harm without fear of defense. The only way to stop a mass shooter is with a bullet, as the perpetrator of this heinous act eventually learned after murdering 21 other people—21 other people who might have been saved if someone besides this murderer had been on the grounds of this “gun free zone” with a gun.
The members of our board who homeschool their children are pleased to inform any such potential evildoers that our school is not a “gun free zone.”
Congratulations to our newest GRA chapter! The new North Metro Regional chapter was formed this evening, and it includes Cherokee County & Pickens County Republican Assembly members! We look forward to good things to come from this group.
GRA members from Cherokee and Pickens counties met this evening at the Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant in Canton to revitalize the chapter that had formerly gone dormant in the area. A body of new proposed bylaws were adopted by the participating membership, and then executive officers were elected to lead the new chapter organization.
Newly elected North Metro RA Regional chapter officers
The newly elected officers of the North Metro Republican Assembly regional chapter are Richard Jordan (President), David Oles (Vice President), Sandy Docherty (Secretary), and David Docherty (Treasurer).
Thereafter, the participating membership also voted to endorse some of the local candidates for local school board and Cherokee County Commissioner. As always with the GRA, an endorsement can only be won by a 2/3rds majority of the participating membership, and an option for “no endorsement” must always be an option on the vote. Only the following local candidates received the requisite votes to earn endorsement:
• For Chairman of the Cherokee County Commission: Harry Johnston • For Schoool District 3: Cam Waters • For School District 4: Chris Greggory
The GRA Board will be voting on accepting this new regional chapter at the next state board meeting. We look forward to providing you with more information on the new North Metro regional chapter in the days ahead.
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
Now you can see our co-sponsored Panel Discussion “How Shall We Then Live?: The Intersection Between Politics, Medicine, and Theology” recently presented at the 2022 Faith and Medicine Conference in Forsyth County.
If you haven’t seen Garland Favorito with VoterGA’s presentation at the GRA State Convention on the evidence of election fraud and the latest on what’s being done about it, now you can watch it on our YouTube channel!
Join us as we hear from some of the most Conservative Political Leaders fighting for Georgia at the local, state, and national level.
Guest Speakers: Garland Favorito, Voter GA
We’ll hear what Favorito and the Voter GA organization has learned and are fighting for in Georgia’s court system regarding the Georgia 2020 elections. He’ll share what the Voter GA organization has done, is doing, results, and where we can get involved to make a difference.
Additional Invited Guest (not confirmed to date) Marjorie Taylor-Greene, U.S. House Rep. for GA Congressional District 14.
Matt Gurtler, Chief of Staff for U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie, and former GA House Rep. for District 8.
Additional Speakers to be announced.
ELECTIONS FOR GRA EXECUTIVE BOARD
• President, NFRA National Director 1, NFRA National Director 2, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, 3rd Vice President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer.
(If you are interested in running for any of the above mentioned positions, please submit your experience and political resume to Debra Williams at: debrapio@bellsouth.net, or call for any questions at 770-789-7017).
If you would like more information on serving on any of the following Committee(s) for the GRA, please contact Debra Williams at: 770-789-7017. (Flyers and sign-up will be available at Convention as well.)
• Federal Committee, Chapter Relations, Membership, New Member, Newsletter, Legislative, Events, Public Relations, Speaker’s Bureau, Coalition of Leaders, State/GOP Vetting
Registration, Chick-Fil-A boxed Meal, Vender/Candidate Table can be purchased through Eventbrite.
Registration: $35 Boxed Meal $10 (Must be pre-ordered)
Beverages and Snacks available for purchase.
Vender/Candidate Tables $50 (Contact Debra Williams @ 770-789-7017 for questions).
“Fulton County GOP corruption strikes again!” The Georgia Republican Assembly has joined with voices of other concerned Republican political activists in metro-Atlanta by expressing their shock and displeasure at yet another new antic of the Fulton GOP.
The Fulton County Republican Party posted on their official Fulton County GOP web site, which is paid for with donations to the Fulton GOP, a brochure advertising a fundraiser for Democrat Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore. Moore is running for Mayor of Atlanta.
Screenshot of the fundraiser for a Democrat on the Fulton GOP web site
In addition, the Fulton GOP Chair Trey Kelly and his fellow Fulton GOP officer Ashford Schwall appear on this fundraiser event for the Democrat Atlanta City Council President! In addition to serving as officers of the Fulton GOP, Trey and Ashford are also on the Georgia 11th District Republican Party Commitee along with many members of the Cobb Republican Party, the Bartow Republican Party, and the Cherokee Republican Party. Michelle Carver from Fulton, the wife of 11th District GOP Chair Brad Carver (who was formerly found giving public donations to Democrat candidates) also included her name on the fundraiser event.
This is a clear-cut violation of the bylaws for the 11th District GOP and arguably a violation of GAGOP bylaws that prohibit any Republican officer from providing public support to a Democrat. For example, in the 11th District GOP bylaws, it states under Section 2.07 that officers of the 11th District Committee may be removed “for cause,” and it defines “cause” as, among other things:
“ii. Conduct detrimental to the party.”
“iii. Any public support, including financial support, of any candidate or nominee of an opposition party …”
The Rules of the Eleventh District Republican Committee, § 2.07 (b).
Holding a fundraiser for a candidate who is currently serving in office as a Democrat seems to be conduct “detrimental to the party.”
Members of the Fulton GOP who defended the actions of its officers argued that because Felicia Moore is running for Mayor of Atlanta, and the mayoral race is non-partisan, the rules of the party were not violated. We beg to differ. Both the letter and definitely the spirit of the rules are clearly violated.
Unlike some of the nitpickiness about rules that has been scattered lately in various GAGOP controversies on social media, this is a violation that strikes at the heart of why we have separate party organizations.
The response from those trying to justify the fundraiser also illustrates the disconnect within the group we call “the Establishment,” who care only about political power (rather than the Republican principles) in the Atlanta “swamp”:
Felicia Moore is currently holding office as a Democrat. Whether the particular office she is now running for is partisan or not, we know from the candidate’s political identification, current partisan office, track record, and worldview what the policies are she is going to promote if elected to new office! She is not going to be promoting policies that are consistent with Republican principles; she will be promoting Democrat policies. She will work to advance the Democrat Party in Fulton and squelch the Republican candidates in Fulton. No wonder then there was so many reports of election fraud coming from Fulton last year!
To put it another way: If you rename Atilla the Hun as “Joe Smiley,” it makes him no less dangerous. If you rename a bottle of arsenic as “sleeping potion,” it makes it no less dangerous. And if you rename a Democrat a “non-partisan,” it makes her no less dangerous!
“[E]lecting Democrats (even if they’re calling themselves non-partisan),” wrote GRA President Alex Johnson, “simply helps them [the Democrats] with fundraising and name ID. So then they can donate money to other Democrats (like Stacey Abrams) and their endorsement may sway others. It also gives them a perceived platform to advertise their brand (Democrat governance).”
“The GOP is a brand and a team,” Alex said. “As a brand, imagine it/your brand as Coca-Cola. Does Coca-Cola host events and then serve Pepsi at them, or suggest that people try out Pepsi products? No. What about having Pepsi and Coke both available, but just without labels on them? No again.”
“The Democrat Party,” GRA NFRA Director Nathaniel Darnell added, “stands for agendas that are immoral. Things like murdering the helpless and stealing from others. What Republican doesn’t acknowledge that murder and stealing are evil? Anyone who is a part of that becomes an accessory to that kind of evil activity. How can we in good conscience provide any kind of promotion to political candidates who are part of a party working to advance these kinds of evil statist activities?”
Furthermore, multiple Fulton activists have pointed out that there were one or two candidates who were Republicans also running for Mayor of Atlanta. Devonta “Sully” Sullivan was one candidate running who is reported to be a Republican, but the Fulton GOP and its officers are not throwing support behind any of them, nor are they seeking to recruit any better Republican candidate to run. With moments like this, we find ourselves wondering why the Fulton GOP thinks they exist. “With Republicans like you, who needs Democrats?”
The Cobb County chapter of the GRA initially posted on social media about this issue when the story first broke on Saturday, October 9th. The fundraiser was held on Friday, October 8th.
On October 22nd the Buckhead Young Republicans announced they are following the example of their elder peers and also hosting an event to promote an Atlanta Democrat running for Mayor. However, the Buckhead YRs would be giving attention to Felicia Moore’s opponent, the former incumbent Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. One significant difference between the events, however, is that the Fulton GOP event was specifically described as a fundraiser, while the Buckhead YR event appears listed as only a candidate speaking forum. Since the Fulton GOP has already made clear that they regard this race as an “anything goes” because the candidates are “non-partisan,” it appears they have no basis to complain against their youthful counterparts supporting this opponent to their preferred candidate.
What is the easiest way to kill a volunteer political organization?
Try to silence the voice of volunteers and refuse to take a stand for accountability of politicians/elected employees.
The Republican Party in Georgia is better equipped to fight than it has been for years. As discussed previously (link) many, many new people have joined the GOP in Georgia to demand accountability and principled candidates for office, and a loud, toxic minority in the GOP , mostly who think that the rest of us should blindly follow their “expertise” are doing whatever they can to stop it.
Last week the official Cobb County Republican Party Committee created something of a stir when they met last Thursday and passed several resolutions critiquing and “censuring” (a better word might have been “reprimanding”) Governor Brian Kemp, and calling for protections at all levels of civil government of medical freedom for citizens. The resolutions addressed time-sensitive subjects. The critiques of Governor Kemp concerned his handling of the allegations of election fraud and revisions to the voting system to ensure accuracy, the illegal immigration, and the indiscriminate admission of Afghan refugees.
Cobb RA member Michael Opitz was appointed as the Resolutions Committee Chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party and orally presented the resolutions, some of which were revisions of earlier drafts presented at a previous committee meeting. Supporters of Governor Kemp protested the resolutions on technical grounds, but the resolutions passed the committee overwhelmingly.
The GRA commends the GOP for holding elected officials accountable to Republican principles at all times. If Republicans do not promote their stated objectives, then the Republican Party becomes meaningless. While we have commended Governor Kemp’s performance in certain instances, we have also offered a critique of some of his actions as well. Such critiques are not endorsements of primary opponents, but instructive for all concerned and provide officials such as Governor Kemp the opportunity to correct their missteps before the next election. If Republican officials expect the grassroots activists to get out the vote for them during campaign season, they have a responsibility to listen to their concerns.
GRA President Alex Johnson
However, the Cobb YRs put out an email on Saturday condemning the Cobb GOP for passing the resolutions. Cobb RA member Nathan Adams called the author of the message on behalf of the Cobb YRs a “lobbyist, posing as a grassroots leader, tell[ing] you that you can’t hold your elected officials accountable …”. GRA President Alex Johnson added that actually most of the board members for the Cobb YRs have a conflict of interest: “One would think and assume that a YR group is ‘grassroots’. But simply look at the composition of their Board of Directors posted on their website: of the 4 board members listed, one of them works for a politician (a Congressman), and two of the others have businesses tied to lobbying that require politicians to like/support them.”
The GRA disagrees with the Cobb YRs about holding elected officials accountable, and our Board today passed a resolution supporting GOP organizations that have held officials accountable. Accountability helps motivate people to campaign and vote with the assurance that our candidates will do what they profess.
Members of the Cobb RA Executive Committee did, however, urge the Cobb GOP Resolutions Committee to provide copies of any proposed resolutions in advance with the Call of the Meeting in the future, and encouraged any party rules to be changed to ensure such a reasonable practice would be followed.
The GRA was honored and pleased to have Republican hero Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) as our keynote speaker at this year’s GRA President’s Dinner on September 11th. We hope more Republican elected officials will learn from and follow Massie’s example of commitment to Republican principles, even when it is temporarily unpopular, for the long-term health of the United States. For those who missed his excellent speech, or for those who would like to watch it again, now you can view it from the GRA’s YouTube Channel:
We appreciate those Georgia Congressmen who have joined with Congressman Thomas Massie in his recently proposed legislation to protect our U.S. soldiers from being forced to be vaccinated. Georgia Republican Congressmen Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jody Hice, Barry Loudermilk, and Andrew Clyde have each signed onto this legislation. No one should be forced to wear masks or be vaccinated. We do believe in Medical Freedom for all.
