Georgia GOP’s Convention Countdown and Leadership Crisis

Cri­tiques of the Geor­gia GOP as its con­ven­tion cycle nears (coun­ty con­ven­tions March 22, dis­trict con­ven­tions April 26, state con­ven­tion June 6–7). It slams for­mer chair David Shafer for mis­man­ag­ing funds, rul­ing dic­ta­to­ri­al­ly, and over­see­ing Trump’s slim 2020 Geor­gia loss (2% vs. expect­ed 6%), fol­lowed by his anoint­ing of Josh McK­oon as suc­ces­sor rather than allow­ing a fair con­test. McK­oon is also brand­ed a fail­ure despite Trump’s recent win, with the GOP los­ing 19 House seats, 5 Sen­ate seats, 2 U.S. Sen­ate seats, and key dis­tricts (e.g., House Dis­trict 125 by 50 votes, U.S. House Dis­trict 2) over five years. Cobb County’s rapid shift from red to blue under Sal­ly Grubbs mir­rors these fail­ures, with data con­tra­dict­ing her suc­cess claims. BKP high­lights alleged elec­tion tam­per­ing in the Cobb Coun­ty chair race, where Deb­bie Doo­ley backs Grubbs’ efforts to thwart Sophia Farooq and pro­mote new­com­er Mary Clarice Hath­away. 

• the rapid approach of the Geor­gia GOP con­ven­tion cycle.
• Under the lead­er­ship of the for­mer GOP chair David Shafer, poor per­for­mance: mis­man­aged funds, led dic­ta­to­ri­al­ly, and over­saw Trump’s nar­row 2020 loss in Geor­gia (by 2% instead of a pro­ject­ed 6%). Instead of step­ping aside neu­tral­ly, Shafer anoint­ed Josh McK­oon as his suc­ces­sor via email, bypass­ing open com­pe­ti­tion.
• Josh McK­oon is a fail­ure despite the Trump win. GA GOP Inc cred­it­ed with lit­tle suc­cess. He has sent out a 4‑page brochure claim­ing achieve­ments, but the par­ty lost sig­nif­i­cant ground over the last 5 years under the lead­er­ship of Shafer and McK­oon. 
• 19 Geor­gia House seats, 5 Geor­gia sen­ate seats, 2 US sen­ate seats and then House Dis­trict 125 lost by 50 votes. Not to men­tion US House Dis­trict two failed to unseat San­ford Bish­op despite favor­able con­di­tions. 
• Cobb Coun­ty, a major vot­ing block, flipped from red to blue faster than expect­ed under poor leadership.There are efforts to tam­per with the elec­tion of the Cobb Coun­ty chair as dis­cussed yes­ter­day. Sal­ly Grubbs wants to claim suc­cess but the data shows dif­fer­ent­ly. Cobb coun­ty has gone back­wards under Grubbs par­al­lel­ing Shaf­fer and McKoon’s fail­ures. Deb­bie Doo­ley is help­ing Grubbs in her efforts to install her can­di­date into the GOP. Deb­bie has put out emails against Farooq while the GOP is boost­ing a new can­di­date and some­one that hasn’t been seen in GOP cir­cles, Hath­away. 

• John­ny Chastain’s Dis­trict 7 town hall (Tues­day night) can­celed; rea­son unknown.