The Battle for Control of Georgia’s GOP Shows the Power of Trump’s Grip
His loyalists are revolting against establishment Republicans in what the state’s lieutenant governor calls a losing strategy.
On a brisk Saturday morning in mid-April, grassroots Republicans gathered in county conventions across Georgia to begin deciding their party’s future. The day ended with Donald Trump firmly in control of the state Republican Party, in a microcosm of the national struggle for the GOP’s soul following the November election and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In the state’s biggest Republican strongholds, conventions that were supposed to last a few hours dragged into the evening as insurgent delegates—many of whom had never participated in party politics before—booted longtime leaders in favor of Trump-embracing newcomers. They attacked the party’s top officeholders, passing resolutions condemning them for not supporting Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. They dissed former GOP officeholders, too, flouting a tradition of giving them votes at a coming state convention. They denounced the state’s voting machines and buzzed with debunked conspiracy theories.