In the wake of the 2020 election, the state of Georgia was easily the most controversial, as former President Donald Trump, countless lawyers and others accused Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of mishandling a number of election-related issues in a state that was ultimately won by President Joe Biden.
After the election dust settled, Trump made clear to his supporters and his political enemies that the upcoming 2022 midterm elections — especially the Republican primary portion — would be a political bloodbath for those who went against the president in one form or another.
One of the people who tussled with the former president, Raffensperger, looks as if he’ll have an especially tough row to hoe next year as according to CNN, Trump formally announced an endorsement for Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice, the lawmaker who could run to unseat Raffensperger in the primaries.
Hice announced his intentions to unseat Raffensperger and make the switch from the halls of Congress to the second-in-command in his home state of Georgia, and Trump issued an endorsement just moments ago.
As @JasonMillerinDC teased yesterday, here is former President Trump’s endorsement of @JodyHice for Georgia Secretary of State pic.twitter.com/QdYSu3tgor
— Mike Emanuel 🇺🇸 (@MikeEmanuelFox) March 22, 2021
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Hice represents Georgia’s 10th District and remains extremely popular with Georgia conservatives — the same conservatives who are very much team MAGA. Hice could probably win the primary challenge on his own, especially given that Raffensperger lost the support of millions of Trump supporters following the 2020 election.
However, it’s always nice to have an official Trump endorsement on the resume.
It was only last week that Hice indicated to a local media outlet that he was “exploring options” as far as his decision to mount a primary challenge against the current secretary, which as most of us know is code language for “I’m definitely running but I can’t announce it yet.”
Along with Trump, Hice was especially critical of Raffensperger following the 2020 election, accusing the Georgia secretary of state of dismissing the “legitimate concerns” of Georgia voters who believe that the state grossly mishandled ballot counting and other election-related issues.
Though a lawmaker jumping the fence to take a position as a state secretary seems like it would be a backward step as far as political career advancement, it leads some to believe two things. One, is that Hice truly cares about his state and will be well-positioned to take charge of future elections.
Two, well, Hice isn’t dumb, and running for the SoS seat should be rather easy for him, which could then put him in a golden position for a future run at the governor’s mansion.
With the backing of Trump supporters and the former president himself, Hice should be able to cruise into an easy victory and will undoubtedly make a fantastic addition to the state’s leadership.
ARTICLE SOURCE : thefederalistpapers.org
