Georgia GOP vice chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, who was elected to the position last week, shared with conservative talk show host John Fredericks that she doesn’t think a woman would be able to win a statewide election. 

“As a woman, I don’t think that a woman is going to be able to do it,” Grubbs said. “If you’re Kelly Loeffler, and of course, 2020 was a situation that was very different at the time, but I don’t see a female governor and I don’t see a female senator from Georgia.”

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Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) appointed Loeffler to the Senate in December 2019 after former Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson resigned due to health reasons. However, she lost her bid for the seat during a special election to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). President Donald Trump appointed Loeffler to serve as administrator for the Small Business Administration. 

Grubbs made the comments while discussing Reagan Box, a Republican candidate who is vying to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in the 2026 election. 

“She’s a beautiful, smart woman from Northwest Georgia,” Grubbs said. “I really like her a lot.”

Grubbs’s remarks were met with pushback, particularly from Republican women. 

Courtney Kramer, who ran for Fulton County district attorney in 2024 and was on the radio show when Grubbs made her comments, called Grubbs “shortsighted.” Kramer lost to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.  

“If anything, the GOP needs to be embracing more female statewide candidates in the midterm,” Kramer said. “To do the opposite or suggest women can’t win in Georgia statewide is shortsighted and will not bolster confidence in the GOP from the average voter.”

Kylie Jane Kremer, executive director of Women for America First, said Grubbs is not only engaging in sexist rhetoric, but she is also failing to remain neutral, a requirement for GOP party leadership. 

“This isn’t just sexist. It’s strategic,” Kremer posted on X. “Salleigh has no problem throwing women under the bus to keep her seat at the good ol’ boy table. She’s not standing with Republican women, she’s standing in their way.”

However, Grubbs told the Atlantic Journal-Constitution, that her comments are based on historical trends, pointing to past elections in which female candidates have fallen short of winning statewide office. Georgia has never had a female governor, making it one of 18 states.

“This is about winning elections and historical trends,” Grubbs said. “History shows in Georgia that a woman Republican candidate, even with stellar credentials and abilities, has never won a statewide race — for example, Kelly Loeffler and Karen Handel.”

While Karen Handel was Georgia’s Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010 and a U.S. Representative from 2017 to 2019, she lost her bid for both U.S. Senate and the governorship.