ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Republican Party announced that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger should not continue running as a Republican, although the party’s chairman suggests this move might not succeed.
During the state GOP convention in Dalton on Saturday, delegates voted overwhelmingly to adopt resolutions, one of which states that the party should not “take any action to allow Brad Raffensperger to qualify as a Republican” for future elections.
This resolution highlights the significant dissatisfaction many Republican activists harbor towards Raffensperger, stemming from his refusal to assist Donald Trump in reversing his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Alex Johnson, who chairs the Georgia Republican Assembly, a faction aiming to influence the party, claimed that Raffensperger has consistently “ignored and disrespected” the party’s stance, including attempts to alter the election system, arguing that Republicans should have the option to distance themselves from Raffensperger.
“He doesn’t listen to anything that the Republican party has asked him to do,” Johnson said Monday. “He is hostile and has been hostile towards our presidential nominee and now a person who is president.”
But party Chairman Josh McKoon told reporters after the convention ended that while the resolution “presents the sense of the convention on what should happen,” state law would only allow the party to refuse to qualify Raffensperger if he falsely swore the loyalty oath to the party required of Republican primary candidates.
“I don’t really see a way for the Georgia Republican Party to decline someone the opportunity to qualify,” McKoon said.
A spokesperson for Raffensperger’s office declined to comment Monday. The two-term secretary of state has said he’s considering running for governor or U.S. Senate in 2026.
Georgia has no party registration and its primary elections allow anyone to vote in the party nominating contest of their choice. That means it can be hard to tell who is truly a Republican or a Democrat.
Some Republicans favor a system of voter registration by party and primaries that allow only party members to vote. They also say party officials should decide which candidates should be allowed to run as Republicans.
The Georgia Republican Party’s executive committee voted in January to expel former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan after Duncan endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president. The committee voted to ban Duncan from party events and said it would not qualify Duncan to run as a Republican in the future.
But the party in 2023 rejected an attempt to ban ideological traitors from primary ballots. Last year, judges blocked attempts by a county party in northwest Georgia to act as gatekeepers for local candidates.
In a ruling regarding Catoosa County, the state Supreme Court did not get to the heart of the dispute over whether parties can create rules for qualifying candidates in primary elections beyond those found in Georgia law. Those who push that point of view claim that being forced to qualify everyone who signs up violates their freedom of association under the U.S. Constitution.
“You can’t force a Baptist church to ordain a Buddhist or a Muslim to be a Baptist minister,” said Nathaniel Darnell, president of the Georgia Republican Assembly. “By the same token, you can’t force somebody who is counteracting the Republican principles and objectives to be Republican.”
A federal judge rejected that argument, but some Catoosa County Republicans have appealed the case. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet ruled. Republicans in Chattooga and Pickens counties passed similar rules.
Those who want to act as gatekeepers generally are seeking to move the party to the right. The state convention on Saturday, for example, called for repealing both the state income tax and local property taxes.
Those who hold a different view say voters should decide who’s a true Republican.
“It’s a blatant power grab by political elites to take away the voice of Republican voters in this state,” said Scot Turner, a former Republican House member who leads a group that successfully sued to block other changes to state election law.
