(The Center Square) – Brad Raffensperger is focusing on several issues in his run for Georgia governor, but the man who has been disparaged by both political parties during his tenure as secretary of state doesn’t back down from the criticism.
“We were pursued by Stacey Abrams and her allied groups over 10 times and I met her and beat here and her allies in court every single time because our laws were right, they were good laws,” Raffensperger said Wednesday in an interview with The Center Square. “We stood up and and protected SB202 which was the Election Integrity Act of 2021. We lost an All-Star Game over it. We actually ended up having a higher turnout in 2022 and even a higher turnout in 2024.”
Major League Baseball followed its controversial decision to pull the 2021 All-Star Game, in part in Atlanta to honor Hank Aaron, with a November 2023 nod to bring the 2025 game to the city. And that was without a change in the voting law.
Raffensperger’s January 2021 phone call with Donald Trump, then in his final days of a first term at the White House, included criticism of that November’s election results. It was part of the election interference case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis against Trump and 18 others that ultimately was dismissed.
Republicans called the case lawfare.
Democrats have questioned Raffensperger’s review of voter rolls, which led to the removal of thousands of voters. And Raffensperger has faced continued scrutiny from the State Election Board over investigations and access to information.
The secretary of state’s office oversees elections, so it was no surprise that one of Raffensperger’s first platforms addressed elections. He wants voters to provide a REAL ID in order to vote.
“If you have to have REAL ID to get on an airplane, REAL ID to get into a federal office building, why wouldn’t you have REAL ID for elections?” Raffensperger said.
Georgia offers photo identification cards for voters who do not have a driver’s license. Raffensperger said that he has checked citizenship three times, the most anyone has done.
Raffensperger’s platform includes doubling school security grants from $50,000 a year to $100,000. He also plans to release a health care proposal before the May 19 primary.
By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square
