President Barack Obama’s nomination of DeKalb County State Court Judge Dax Lopez to be a federal judge– a lifetime appointment subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate– is in trouble. He recently met with the Peach State’s two U.S. senators— Johnny Isakson and David Perdue— who would have to support him in order for the nomination to move forward. InsiderAdvantage is told the meetings were polite but non-committal.
“Lopez’s longtime board membership on the radical Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) is a millstone around his neck,” says one U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee staffer. The staffer says Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would not move the nomination forward if one of Georgia’s senators opposes Lopez. (Perdue, a strong critic of open borders and illegal immigration, sits on the committee.)
The Judiciary panel may schedule a hearing on the nominee. In the meantime, Georgia sheriffs and prominent state Republican lawmakers have contacted Isakson and Perdue urging rejection, citing his organization’s extreme positions opposing enforcement of Georgia immigration laws. A letter to them from state Sen. Steve Gooch, for example: says: “I have received numerous phone calls and emails from citizens who share a concern” over the nomination.
This writer once spoke with Lopez and he was unapologetic for GALEO opposing the state’s 2011 immigration control law. That was the same year that GALEO joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and other left-wing groups in a class action lawsuit to overturn the law. When asked why an “objective judge” was a board member of an advocacy/lobbying group, he told me it was because he believed in its mission. In this context, note that– according to its website– GALEO:
* Supports amnesty for illegal aliens.
* Lobbied against Georgia sheriffs’ cooperation with federal immigration control officials and even commended the Fulton County sheriff for not cooperating with Immigration and Control Enforcement officials.
* Fought the state voter identification law.
* Denounces the state’s official English-in-government law.
* Supports in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
* Opposed passage of the 2011 Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act (which passed both houses of the General Assembly by large majorities).
Lopez also had a big patron during his 2012 election campaign: none other than the failed 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. In a July 27, 2012 Tweet, Lopez said: “I cannot begin to thank my good friend and fellow DeKalb public servant Sen. Jason Carter for hosting a meet and greet for me at the home of his parents. I am humbled to have his support and endorsement.” Lopez was also endorsed for that election by former Democrat Gov. Roy Barnes and the homosexual lobby Georgia Equality.
