Jim Fernander, 2nd Vice President
Jim Fernander was elected the 2nd Vice President of the GRA at the State Convention in December of 2021. Living in Douglasville, Jim has been active in the Republican Party in Georgia for many years.
Jim Fernander was elected the 2nd Vice President of the GRA at the State Convention in December of 2021. Living in Douglasville, Jim has been active in the Republican Party in Georgia for many years.
Brant serves in many roles in Republican politics in Georgia. In 2018 and 2020 he was elected as the 2nd Vice Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, and has helped to bring reform to the state party. He is also the Chairman of the Coweta County Republican Party (CCRP) serving since March 2013. He previously served as 1st Vice Chairman of the CCRP from 2011 to 2013 and served as a delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Brant was born and raised in Georgia and has lived in Coweta County since childhood. Brant or “Five” (as his friends call him) has served as a volunteer in the campaigns of Gary Bauer, Saxby Chambliss, and Sonny Perdue. He also served as county campaign manager for Jeff Chapman and Max Wood in 2010.
In 2010, Brant was appointed to serve as Vice Chairman of the Newnan Urban Redevelopment Agency. In 2013, he was appointed Chairman of the agency.
In 2011, Brant was elected as 1st Vice Chair of the Coweta County Republican Party (CCRP). In late 2011, Brant worked closely with Mike Crane in Crane’s successful bid to win a special election to the state senate. Brant would go on to serve as a legislative aide to Senator Crane in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 sessions of the Georgia General Assembly. In April 2012, Brant was elected to represent the Third Congressional District of Georgia to the Republican National Convention in Tampa serving as the youngest delegate from Georgia.
Brant was elected as Chairman of the CCRP without opposition in March of 2013; and elected to the GAGOP State Committee on April 20, 2013. In March 2015, Brant was re-elected CCRP Chairman unopposed. Also in March, Brant successfully led the effort to stop a proposed rules change to the GAGOP rules that would have created greater obstacles to participation in the party process.
Brant served on the Resolutions Committee at the 2012 and 2013 GAGOP state conventions. He is a co-founder of GeorgiaCaucus.org and has written for zpolitics.com as well as other political websites. As a young Christian Conservative Brant has always striven to conduct himself in a manner that would be a credit to his Lord, his family, and his country. You can reach him at bfrostv@georgiara.com.
In 2010, Brant was appointed to serve as Vice Chairman of the Newnan Urban Redevelopment Agency. In 2013, he was appointed Chairman of the agency.
In 2011, Brant was elected as 1st Vice Chair of the Coweta County Republican Party (CCRP). In late 2011, Brant worked closely with Mike Crane in Crane’s successful bid to win a special election to the state senate. Brant would go on to serve as a legislative aide to Senator Crane in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 sessions of the Georgia General Assembly. In April 2012, Brant was elected to represent the Third Congressional District of Georgia to the Republican National Convention in Tampa serving as the youngest delegate from Georgia.
Brant was elected as Chairman of the CCRP without opposition in March of 2013; and elected to the GAGOP State Committee on April 20, 2013. In March 2015, Brant was re-elected CCRP Chairman unopposed. Also in March, Brant successfully led the effort to stop a proposed rules change to the GAGOP rules that would have created greater obstacles to participation in the party process.
Brant served on the Resolutions Committee at the 2012 and 2013 GAGOP state conventions. He is a co-founder of GeorgiaCaucus.org and has written for zpolitics.com as well as other political websites. As a young Christian Conservative Brant has always striven to conduct himself in a manner that would be a credit to his Lord, his family, and his country.
Abigail is a Christian, homeschool graduate who is passionate about the ideals underlying the Republican Party. She feels called to help make America constitutional again and sees effective political activism as part of Christian ministry: a natural outflow of loving one’s neighbor and the Great Commission. She was elected to fill the vacancy of the Third Vice Chair of the GRA in 2021. Earlier that year she was also elected to serve as a precinct officer for LM03 in the Cobb County Republican Party.
She currently serves as the Vice President of GA Right to Life, having been elected to that position twice, and previously co-led the Northwest Georgia Right to Life chapter. She has trained and volunteered with the Center for Bio-ethical Reform doing pro-life campus outreach at liberal colleges and doing street activism.
She served for five years as Secretary of the L’Abri Symphony, a non-profit community orchestra in Dalton, GA. For seven years she worked doing bookkeeping and payroll for Keith Cochran CPA accounting firm. She is currently in her first year working as an insurance agent with Bankers Life alongside her husband Nathaniel.
She has an interest in true journalism, untainted by Marxist narratives, and in 2020 worked as a writer and correspondent for The Tulis Report, a conservative talk radio show in Chattanooga, TN.
She is a wife and mother and is enthusiastic about the vital role of mothers in preserving conservatism for the next generation. You can reach her at adarnell@georgiara.com.
Catherine Bernard serves as the lady senior NFRA National Director for Georgia, succeeding Debra Williams. In addition, Catherine has developed a reputation as a successful criminal defense attorney in Georgia. In 2024 she served as the Nominating Committee Chairwoman for the DeKalb County GOP. In 2012 she was elected as a delegate to the National Republican Convention. She and her husband Eric reside in DeKalb County. You can reach her at cbernard@georgiara.com.
Nathaniel serves as the President (C.E.O.) of the GRA and as the Chairman of the Cobb County Republican Assembly chapter. Prior to that he served as the NFRA Director (2021-2023), and the 3rd Vice President of the GRA (2020). He also was elected as the Treasurer of the 14th Congressional District GA GOP in 2023, and before that in 2019 he was elected the Vice Chair of Communications for the Cobb County Republican Party. He first started working in Georgia Republican politics in 1996, working for eight different Republican state legislators over the course of eight legislative sessions, including State Senator Mike Crane (R-Newnan), State Rep. Mitchell Kaye (R-Cobb), State Senator Billy Ray (R-Gwinnett), and others. He served as a state committee member for the Georgia Republican Party in the 11th Congressional District for seven years, and as the Executive Director of the Cobb County Republican Party for three years. He currently serves as the 14th District GA GOP Treasurer & on the GA GOP State Committee for the 14th. Nathaniel holds a Juris Doctorate with Oak Brook College of Law and works as a licensed financial advisor and insurance professional in Georgia. He is happily married to Abigail Darnell in Cobb County with their two children. You can reach him at president@georgiara.com.
Alex serves as the Chairman of the GRA Board and Executive Committee. From 2014 to 2023 he served as the GRA President. He attended Oglethorpe University and received a B.A. in Politics and attended Georgia State Law school for his Juris Doctor. While at Oglethorpe, he helped found the College Republicans in 2003. In 2009, he became involved in the DeKalb County Republican Party and DeKalb County Young Republicans serving as Secretary, Vice Chair and eventual two-term Chairman of the DeKalb County Young Republicans.
He has served within the DeKalb County Republican Party as an Executive Committee member, Senate District Chair, and General (Legal) Counsel, as well as being the Republican candidate for the Georgia State Senate in District 41 in 2010 against Democrat Steve Henson, losing but garnering approximately 43% of the vote.
Alex ran for Georgia GOP Chairman in 2013, 2015, and 2017 (receiving 40%, 45%, and 47% of the vote, respectively). He has also founded Advance the GOP, an informational effort to improve the Republican Party in Georgia by holding politicians accountable to the Republican principles that they claimed to support when they took office.
He received the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) President’s Award for Activism in 2017, and was also elected to serve as the Southern Regional Vice-President for the NFRA.
As his paying job, Alex practices law throughout Georgia, focusing on both personal injury and civil rights litigation, as well as representing businesses. He lives in Dunwoody, Georgia with his wife, Andrea.You can reach him at chairman@georgiara.com