Cobb Democrats walk out of legislative delegation elections

Tensions in the Cobb legislative delegation boiled over Wednesday as House Democrats walked out of a meeting to elect new leadership, preventing a vote on a new chair for the delegation.

T he delegation recently flipped from majority Republican to majority Democrat after November’s suburban “blue wave.”

Democrats had agreed on a slate of nominees for chair going into the meeting, said state Sen. Jen Jordan. At the top of their list was Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson. But just after his nomination, Republicans put forward their own candidate: Democratic state Sen. Michael Rhett.

Jordan accused Rhett of cutting a “side deal” with Repub- licans to “circumvent the slate that had been decided by the Democrats.”

She said the walkout was intended to buy time while the Democrats regroup to decide their next step.

“It took everybody by surprise,” Jordan said. “It just seems like such a naked attempt to keep power” by Republicans.

She said among Democrats’ top priorities — the reason they hope to control the delegation — is reforming Cobb’s Board of Elections to expand early voting and roll back what they see as efforts to depress voter turn- out in some areas.

Rhett said he didn’t know why his fellow Democrats walked out. He said he was approached by a bipartisan group of lawmak- ers who asked to nominate him, and he thought, “Why not?”

“It’d be nice, after not having a Democrat in the chair, to have two running,” he said. “I’ve always been the type of person who always advocates policies over politics.”

State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, who will remain in his position as chair for the time being, said he hasn’t decided on a course of action yet. He dismissed Democrats’ accusations that Republi- cans were doing something nefarious by supporting Rhett, whom he called a “consensus-builder.”

“Everyone in the delegation has the right to vote for the indi- vidual of their choosing,” he said. “If (Wilkerson) cannot get the votes of his colleagues, that’s his problem.”

BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@ AJC.COM 2018 Democratic state Sen. Michael Rhett said he didn’t know why his fellow Democrats walked out. He said he was approached by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who asked to nominate him, and he thought, “Why not?”