Georgia Republican Party chairman Josh McKoon signaled on Tuesday that the party would allow Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on the 2026 ballot, saying to do otherwise would be of questionable legality.
Raffensperger is the center of a rift within the Georgia Republican Party, angering President Donald Trump’s loyalists with his actions surrounding the 2020 election. At a weekend Republican convention, delegates approved a resolution calling for party officials to disqualify Raffensperger from the Republican ticket. In an appearance on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Politically Georgia podcast, McKoon said he wouldn’t.
Recommended Stories
- Josh Hawley sponsors bill to raise federal minimum wage to $15
- Ron Johnson open to Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill’ after Vance meeting
- Fetterman gets praise from GOP over stance on LA riots: ‘Anarchy’
“I’m not going to put the Republican Party in the position of being sued over ballot access,” he said.
“Obviously, the delegates expressed their sense and what their desire is, and they have every right to,” McKoon added. “But I have a fiduciary responsibility to the Georgia Republican Party, and we’re not going to engage in those kinds of things.”
McKoon is a staunch Trump ally, going so far as to make Trump raising his fist after being shot at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, his profile picture on X. Trump endorsed McKoon for his recent reelection as Georgia GOP chairman, saying, “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
GEORGIA SUPREME COURT RESTRICTS WHAT VOTING RULES STATE ELECTION BOARD CAN CREATE
A May poll found that Raffensperger was the strongest-performing Republican candidate in the 2026 Senate election, spreading alarm among the party’s loyalists. McKoon’s refusal to disqualify him could set up an awkward situation for the party, with its Senate nominee running without its full support.
Raffensperger has hinted at a Senate run but said he wouldn’t announce his plans for “a few months” in April. He told 11Alive in an April interview that he hoped the Republican Party put forward “a true conservative” for the 2026 races, and when asked what that looked like, he said, “I think you’re looking at him.”