Embattled Georgia GOP chairman won’t run again

Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer told Republican officials he’s not running for another term amid backlash over the party’s performance during the past two election cycles and scrutiny from prosecutors for his role in promoting Donald Trump’s lies claiming election fraud.

Shafer, a former state senator, informed members of the state GOP committee on Friday that he won’t seek a third term when the party votes this summer, according to three senior Republican officials who shared an email he sent to activists.

“I have felt for some time that I should re-focus on my family which would include, at least for the short term, scaling back on my volunteer activities,” Shafer wrote in the email, which endorsed former state Sen. Josh McKoon as his successor.

Shafer announced his plans amid a brewing revolt from activists. He already faced a challenge from Rebecca Yardley, the 9th District GOP chairwoman who entered the race with a pledge to energize the party’s grassroots. Others could soon announce their candidacies.

Shafer led the party during devastating losses in the 2020 election cycle that cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate and helped tank Trump’s bid for a second term as president, then blamed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for the defeats.

He was a key promoter of Trump’s election fraud lies, and his role as a “fake” elector has potentially put him in the crosshairs of state and federal investigators weighing whether to file criminal charges against the former president and his allies on allegations they tried to illegally overturn the election.

Shafer alienated many of the state’s most powerful Republicans for picking the pro-Trump losing side in party primaries. Among them is Gov. Brian Kemp, the state’s most popular Republican, who has used his leadership committee to circumvent Shafer.

His supporters have touted his organizational efforts. Georgia GOP Executive Director Ryan Caudelle — a former Trump staffer — said Shafer’s leadership enabled “record-breaking” outreach in 2022, with more than 5.2 million doors knocked and 2.5 million calls made.

“The Georgia Republican Party’s efforts translated into winning every nonfederal statewide office, re-electing our legislative majorities and picking up a seat in Congress,” Caudelle said. “And we did it without going into debt.”