Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who refused to help former President Donald Trump overturn now-President Joe Biden's 2020 victory in Georgia and has defended the integrity of that election, won the Republican primary for another term.
By Grace Panetta, John L. Dorman, and Madison Hall
Raffensperger defeated Rep. Jody Hice, who has questioned the veracity of the results and secured the endorsement of the former president. Raffensperger's victory dealt yet another blow to Trump after his endorsed candidate for governor, David Perdue, got trounced by incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp.
During an extraordinary January 2021 phone call, Trump pleaded with Raffensperger to "find" additional votes that would help him overcome Biden's roughly 12,000-vote victory in the Southern swing state. During the conversation, Trump made baseless accusations about voter fraud in the election, but Raffensperger declined to go along with the then-president's wishes.
Hice, who has compiled a conservative voting record while in Congress, has amplified the former president's debunked allegations of election malfeasance and criticized Raffensperger's handling of the 2020 election in making the case for why he should be the party's nominee.
The GOP primary also included David Belle Isle, the former mayor of Alpharetta, and TJ Hudson, the county manager of Treutlen County.
While many observers predicted that Raffensperger would have a difficult — if not unrealistic — chance at winning the Republican nomination this year after earning the enduring ire of Trump, the latest polling indicated a competitive race.
In an Atlanta-Journal Constitution poll of likely GOP voters published in late April, Raffensperger led Hice 28%-26%, within the margin of error, with 37% of respondents undecided. Belle Isle earned the support of 5% of respondents, while Hudson sat at 3% support.
On the Democratic side, the candidates include Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen, former Fulton County Commission chair John Eaves, former state Sen. Floyd Griffin, former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler, and former Cobb County Democratic Party chair Michael Owens.
An 11Alive poll of likely Democratic voters released in late April showed Nguyen ahead with 12% support, while Owens was close behind at 9%, Eaves and Dawkins-Haigler both received 7%, and Griffin followed at 6% support.
A whopping 60% of respondents in the survey were undecided.
Democrats have largely been united against SB 202, also known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which tightened election rules in the state by limiting drop boxes and strengthening voter identification requirements, among other measures.
The legislation was signed into law last year by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp despite objections from Democrats, who contend that the law was rooted in Trump's unsubstantiated election claims and would restrict the voting power of the state's Black voters.
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