May 19, 2022
Contact: Cory Combs, Senior Communications Manager
ccombs@issueoneaction.org, p: 202-204-8553
Georgia’s secretary of state race is “ground zero” for democracy this year, says Issue One Action CEO Nick Penniman
Washington, DC – May 19, 2022 – Of all the races where election deniers are running for positions to oversee U.S. elections, none is more high-profile than Georgia, where Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) is challenging incumbent Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to be Georgia’s top election official.
Raffensperger himself became a national figure after the 2020 election by standing up to intense pressure from then-President Donald Trump and his supporters who tried to convince Raffensperger to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win Georgia.
“Georgia is ground zero this year for seeing whether a new crop of extremist, anti-democracy candidates who want to hijack our elections for partisan gain will prevail in our politics,” said Issue One Action CEO Nick Penniman.
Penniman continued: “Elections should be administered by dedicated public servants who put voters first. Congressman Hice’s rhetoric and record raise serious doubts about his commitment to serving all voters in Georgia. People who do not believe in free and fair elections are unfit for elected office — especially for the office of secretary of state.”
According to nonpartisan watchdog States United Action, two of every three secretary of state races this year feature at least one election denier candidate on the ballot. Election deniers have already been defeated so far this year in GOP Secretary of State primaries in Ohio, Nebraska, and Idaho.
Jody Hice’s record as an election denier
Rep. Jody Hice has, in the words of the Atlanta Constitution Journal, “made faith in unproven voter fraud claims the centerpiece of his campaign” against Raffensperger.
Georgia’s ballots were counted three separate times under the supervision of both Republican and Democratic officials, and all three counts affirmed the same outcome of the presidential race. Despite pressure from then-President Donald Trump to do otherwise, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp certified Joe Biden’s victory.
After the 2020 election, Hice supported an unsuccessful legal appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate Georgia’s election results. A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, called the lawsuit “constitutionally, legally, and factually wrong.” Hice also boosted a claim on Twitter that a voting machine in Georgia switched votes from Trump to Biden — and didn't correct it when Raffensperger’s office notified him that it was disinformation.
Moreover, just hours after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol failed to thwart the counting of Electoral College votes, Hice attempted to introduce an objection to Georgia’s Electoral College votes, but no senator joined with him. During that joint session of Congress, Hice also formally objected to counting the Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Earlier in the day, he had posted a photo on Instagram with the caption, “This is our 1776 moment.”
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