TRUMP BACKS LOYALIST FOR GA. SECRETARY OF STATE
Congressman aims to unseat official at center of 2020 vote
Former President Donald Trump on Monday took aim at a Georgia official he considers one of his biggest enemies: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who refused Trump’s pressure to overturn the state’s election results last year.
By endorsing Jody Hice, a Republican congressman, in his bid to unseat Raffensperger, the former president made his most prominent effort yet to try to punish elected officials who he believes have crossed him. Raffensperger, a Republican, is among the top targets for Trump, along with the state’s governor, Brian Kemp.
Raffensperger and other Georgia election officials certified President Joe Biden’s victory after conducting several recounts. They have said the results were fair and accurate, dismissing Trump’s claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.
In a statement issued shortly after Hice announced his candidacy for the position Monday, Trump praised him as “one of our most outstanding
congressmen,” and alluded to his own claims of voter fraud, which he has said deprived him of victory in the state.
“Unlike the current Georgia Secretary of State, Jody leads out front with integrity,” Trump said. “Jody will stop the Fraud and get honesty into our Elections!”
The race in Georgia for secretary of state — until the 2020 election a relatively lowprofile job across the country — carries outsize implications in the battleground state, with Republicans there working to roll back voting rights and Democrats fighting those efforts.
Should Hice beat Raffensperger in the Republican primary, his nomination could energize Democrats
who are alarmed by the prospect of elections in the state being run by a Trump loyalist.
Hice, who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, stretching south and east from Atlanta, in January condemned the second House impeachment of Trump as “misguided” and aimed at “scoring cheap political points.”
In the weeks after the November election, he supported Trump’s claims of election fraud, including a challenge before the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the results in states Trump lost.
As he seeks to retain control of the Republican Party, Trump is determined to remain a kingmaker for downballot elections, while seeking retribution against those he perceives as having betrayed him.
So far, he has endorsed only one other candidate running against someone he feels personally aggrieved by: Max Miller, a former White House aide, who is challenging Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican representing Ohio’s 6th Congressional District. Gonzalez was one of 10 Republican House members who voted for Trump’s impeachment.
The move to back Hice against the sitting secretary of state is also extraordinary, given that Raffensperger has confirmed his office is investigating Trump’s attempts to reverse the election results, including a phone call the former president made to him. Trump is also under investigation by Fulton County prosecutors into whether he and others tried to improperly influence the election.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Raffensperger was scathing about his future opponent.
“Few have done more to cynically undermine faith in our election than Jody Hice,” he said, adding, “Georgia Republicans seeking a candidate who’s accomplished nothing now have one.”