By KATE BRUMBACK, Related Press
ATLANTA (AP) — As former President Donald Trump sought to put blame for his 2020 election loss, Georgia’s secretary of state emerged as one in every of his major targets. Now, with a Trump-endorsed challenger within the Republican main, Brad Raffensperger is combating to maintain his job.
The secretary of state emerged from relative obscurity into the nationwide highlight when he insisted that Georgia’s election had been correct and safe, and refused to bend to stress from Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s victory within the state. Raffensperger says he’s operating for reelection primarily based on his file of integrity as a principled conservative.
“I’ve proven that I’ll stand and make the exhausting selections and I’ll do what is true, and that’s what I’m known as to do,” he mentioned in a latest interview with The Related Press.
Months after Raffensperger licensed Biden’s victory, Georgia U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a conservative Trump loyalist and former pastor, introduced he would run towards Raffensperger within the Might 24 Republican main and shortly secured the previous president’s endorsement. Two others — former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle and former county Probate and Justice of the Peace Choose T.J. Hudson — are additionally difficult Raffensperger from the appropriate.
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It’s hardly shocking that Raffensperger has drawn main challengers, Emory College political science professor Andra Gillespie mentioned, noting that polls have proven many Republican voters in Georgia consider there was widespread voter fraud and query the 2020 election outcomes.
“His function by way of standing as much as Trump, whereas incomes him some respect nationally, definitely doesn’t essentially garner any kind of plaudits from the Trump wing of the Republican get together within the state,” she mentioned.
State and federal officers, together with Trump’s personal legal professional common, have mentioned there was no proof of widespread fraud within the 2020 election. However that hasn’t stopped the proliferation of conspiracy theories and false claims.
Trump endorsed Raffensperger throughout a common election runoff in 2018. However as Georgia’s presidential votes have been counted, recounted and recounted once more — and even after the outcomes have been licensed — the president unleashed his fury. He known as the secretary of state an “enemy of the folks” and vowed to marketing campaign towards him. In a now-infamous Jan. 2, 2021, cellphone name, Trump pressed Raffensperger to “discover” sufficient votes to shift the election final result in his favor.
However Trump wasn’t the one Republican to activate Raffensperger. Then-U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, dealing with a January 2021 runoff election they in the end misplaced to Democratic challengers, known as on the secretary of state to resign. Georgia GOP Celebration Chairman David Shafer has repeatedly disparaged Raffensperger’s dealing with of the 2020 election.
Raffensperger has pushed again on the narrative that the election was stolen, citing investigations which have discovered no widespread fraud and the numerous unsuccessful lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies.
“Me and all my different mates on the appropriate facet of the aisle have been disenchanted,” Raffensperger mentioned. “However yup, these have been the numbers. President Trump did come up quick.”
Outstanding Republicans have continued to criticize Raffensperger, citing a authorized settlement and emergency election measures put in place due to the pandemic. In a sweeping election overhaul handed final yr, Republican lawmakers stripped the secretary of state of his chairmanship and voting energy on the State Election Board.
In Georgia and elsewhere, Raffensperger additionally gained reward — together with from some Democrats — for standing as much as the president and others in his get together. However Emory professor Gillespie famous that the legislation did not depart him a lot selection: “Morally, ethically, legally, he did the appropriate factor.”
When voting rights activist and Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams appeared on “The Late Present with Stephen Colbert” simply after the recording of the decision between Trump and Raffensperger was leaked in January 2021, she cautioned towards celebrating Raffensperger.
“Lionizing Brad Raffensperger is a bit wrongheaded,” she mentioned. “This man is just not defending the appropriate of voters. He’s defending an election that he ran.”
Abrams has typically accused Raffensperger and different Republicans of suppressing voting rights, significantly for folks of shade. The secretary of state has responded by asserting that Democrats’ claims of voter suppression are as dangerous as claims by Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen.
Though challengers to incumbents don’t usually fare effectively in primaries, the dedicated get together voters who present up for such contests might favor Hice, College of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock mentioned.
“The truth that Trump stays an essential issue for lots of Republicans and that he has put his stamp of approval on a challenger does improve Hice’s prospects,” Bullock mentioned.
Hice has been elevating extra money than Raffensperger in latest months, bringing in simply over $1 million within the reporting interval that ended Jan. 31, in contrast with Raffensperger’s $322,000. However Hice has been spending cash sooner, ending the interval with about $648,000, in contrast with Raffensperger’s $513,000. Belle Isle, who misplaced to Raffensperger within the Republican main in 2018, raised greater than $212,000 throughout the interval and had about $112,000 readily available. Hudson reported elevating $26,000 and had about $7,500 within the financial institution.
Raffensperger wasn’t the one Georgia official to attract Trump’s ire for refusing to intrude with the state’s election outcomes. Trump has additionally vowed vengeance towards Gov. Brian Kemp, endorsing former senator Perdue within the Republican main in that race.
However Kemp could also be in a greater place to fend off a Trump-backed problem by emphasizing financial achievements or different components of his job, Gillespie mentioned.
“It’s tougher for Brad Raffensperger to run away as a result of elections are his job,” she mentioned. “So if individuals are incensed by the outcomes of the 2020 election and the way it was dealt with, he’s going to be the one which’s going to bear the brunt of that criticism amongst Republicans.”
Though the secretary of state has different tasks, together with company registration {and professional} licensing, the function of chief elections officer will get essentially the most consideration.
Hice, who supported a Texas lawsuit searching for to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia and different states and voted towards his Electoral School victory, has embraced unproven allegations of voter fraud. He instructed the AP lately, “I consider if we had an correct depend, I consider Trump gained Georgia.”
Raffensperger dismisses assaults from folks, together with his main opponents, who query his dealing with of the 2020 election: “I’m standing on the reality. They’re standing on lies. The reality at all times wins.”
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