The divisions among Georgia Republicans after the 2020 election are being laid bare at the party's annual convention. On Saturday, Gov. Georgia Gov.
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Kemp's supporters tried to drown out the taunts, and he pleaded for party harmony. Heading into his 2022 reelection campaign, the governor emphasized his accomplishments, especially an election overhaul that GOP state lawmakers pushed in reaction to Donald Trump's false assertions that he lost in November because of voter fraud.
"We must be strong and courageous," Kemp said. He said of Democrats: "They've got Hollywood. They've got billionaires in New York and California. ... That is why we have to be united as well and move forward together."
Yet Kemp never mentioned the former president who has bashed him for months and who was scheduled to return to the political arena later Saturday with a speech to North Carolina Republicans. Nor did Kemp ever explicitly state that the 2020 election was fraudulent or inaccurately tallied, setting him apart from a parade of other speakers who took the stage, including one of his underdog primary rivals who received a rousing response.
The scene underscored Trump's iron hold on the Republican Party even in defeat and the potential peril for Kemp or any other GOP figure who crosses the former president, intentionally or not. And it left many Kemp supporters worried that Trump loyalists' continued fixation on 2020 will doom the party in the coming midterm elections.
"I'm scared to death of these anti-Kemp Republicans," said James Hall, a 37-year-old delegate from Savannah.
Trump taped a video message for the convention in which he praised Georgia Republicans generally yet never mentioned Kemp. Trump also promised he'd return to Georgia for a rally "in the very near future." It was reminiscent of his promise on Jan. 4, the day before Republicans lost U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia, to spend the 2022 race "campaigning against your governor."
Hall predicted such divisiveness would ensure a repeat of the Senate runoffs, when Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The Republicans lost votes from hardcore conservatives angry over Trump's defeat; and they lost votes among moderates turned off by the false claims that Biden's November victory was illegitimate. State elections officials of both parties and across the country have vouched for the results, and multiple courts have rejected Trump's election challenges.
"If we keep playing these stupid games saying Kemp is not pure enough, we're going to hand it over to the Democrats again," Hall said. "It's just so counterproductive. He's the only Republican that can win in November."
The governor's critics insist he's earned the opposition.
"If you don't support Trump, you don't get to play," said Barbara Cunningham of Savannah, who's been involved with the state party for more than 50 years.
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