Brad Raffensperger is the Georgia secretary of state who defied Trump
[ad_1]
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s high elections official, moved into the media highlight in January 2021 when he refused strain from then-President Donald Trump to reverse Joe Biden’s victory within the state. The Republican secretary of state is again in headlines, after a Georgia grand jury indicted Trump and a number of other allies on 41 prices for allegedly attempting to steal the 2020 election.
Raffensperger:My family voted for Trump. He threw us under the bus anyway.
Raffensperger rejects Trump’s request over the telephone
Days earlier than the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Raffensperger spent an hour on the phone with Trump. The then-president known as the state’s high election official imploring him to “discover” sufficient votes to overturn the current election outcomes.
“And there’s nothing flawed with saying, you recognize, um, that you just’ve recalculated,” Trump stated within the recorded name.
Raffensperger stood by the Georgia election outcomes, which had been counted and confirmed 3 times previous to Trump’s name. By nearly 0.25% of the vote, President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Georgia, changing into the primary Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 30 years to seize the state.
Did Trump break the regulation?President’s call to Georgia’s Raffensperger spurs demand for criminal investigation
Extra:Liz Cheney says Trump Georgia call is ‘deeply troubling,’ urges listening to full hourlong audiotape
‘The numbers do not lie’: Raffensperger rejects voter fraud claims
Raffensperger publicly condemned the violence of Jan. 6, together with the increased threats to election officials forward of final November’s election. He once more refuted claims of a stolen election in his e-book, “Integrity Counts,” revealed in November 2021.
Raffensperger testified before the Georgia grand jury June of final yr. That very same month, he additionally appeared before the House subcommittee investigating the riot.
“No, the numbers are the numbers,” Raffensperger stated throughout the listening to, in response to voter fraud allegations. “The numbers don’t lie.”
Raffensperger elected for a second time period as secretary
Since successful reelection in 2022, Raffensperger has continued the election reform efforts he started in his first four-year time period. A high precedence for Raffensperger is “safe and accessible elections,” according to his website. His carried out adjustments embody picture ID necessities for all types of voting.
Critics – together with his most up-to-date opponent, Democrat Bee Nguyen – say his measures are simply one other type of voter suppression.
“What we’re taking a look at here’s a secretary of state who talks out of either side of his mouth,” Nguyen stated of Raffensperger final summer season, referring to insurance policies that she stated nonetheless endorse false claims of election fraud.
Election reform:He defied Trump in 2020, but voting rights groups slam policies of Georgia’s Raffensperger
Georgia major:Raffensperger backs early primary for state in 2028, not in 2024 as Biden proposes
State election obtained unprecedented consideration within the midterms
A job that traditionally obtained little consideration from voters, secretaries of state rose to prominence after 2020. Amongst them, Raffensperger grew to become among the many most well-known for his interactions with Trump.
Secretary of state races grew to become a “Big Lie” battleground in final yr’s midterms. Voters in at least 13 states, together with Minnesota and Arizona, noticed on their poll a candidate who endorsed claims of a stolen election. None of these candidates gained their race.
Who’s Brad Raffensperger?
Raffensperger was first elected secretary of state in 2018. He spent three years earlier than that within the Georgia Home of Representatives after serving two as a metropolis councilmember in one in all Atlanta’s suburbs.
A licensed engineer and businessman, Raffensperger additionally based the development firm Tendon System and consulting agency Trillium Buildings.
[ad_2]
Source link