If there is indeed a Republican civil war brewing ahead of the 2022 midterms then the Whitfield County GOP is letting the world know what side they’re on. Just take at look at their latest set of resolutions, introduced at the county convention over the weekend.
The first resolution voices full support for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and urges state officials to keep the county in her district upon redistricting later this year. The controversial congresswoman was stripped of her committee seats by House Democrats earlier this year, a move that enraged Republicans and apparently did little to dissuade her supporters – at least not the ones in Whitfield County.
A second resolution demands the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has been a punching bag for a segment of the GOP ever since the November general elections. Also brought up is the infamous phone call between former President Donald Trump and Raffensperger, which figured heavily into Trump’s second impeachment proceedings and have been the focus of lawsuits from right-leaning organizations more recently. Should Raffensperger not resign, (he has already said he will not) then look for a groundswell of North Georgia support for top challenger, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice.
Likewise Whitfield Republicans called for the censures of both Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan for “standing by and doing nothing” in Trump’s and the GOP’s “fight against election fraud.” No need to relitigate those claims here – but noteworthy is the Whitfield GOP placing the blame for January’s Senate losses squarely on Kemp – and threatens that he may cost the party the governor’s mansion as well.
Another resolution urges the state legislature to strip Delta of its jet-fuel tax, a move that nearly came to fruition on Sine Die as the House voted in favor of the move before the Senate killed it. For that, the Whitfield GOP blames Duncan, who “refused to let the Georgia Senate to vote on it.”
One other resolution of note – the county party also voted to censure state Sen. Chuck Payne, with whom they have a litany of complaints including a 2018 vote he made against driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants be marked as well as his alleged support of Geoff Duncan’s stance that there was no evidence of voter fraud in November.
The interesting thing to watch will be how many GOP organizations will stand in favor of or opposed to Gov. Brian Kemp at their own conventions – many slated for this weekend – and then how that sets the stage for June’s state Republican Convention, which promises to be the most interesting in many years. Insiders tell IAG that few viable candidates are willing to primary Kemp, who has shored up his flanks since November despite Trump’s anger.
