The Cobb County Republican Assembly’s Executive Committee has voted to elect Christopher Deeb the new President of the Cobb County Republican Assembly chapter. The vote was held after Debbie Fisher announced she needed to step down from the position in order to better keep up with her new duties as an officer on the Cobb County Republican Party’s Executive Committee working with Salleigh Grubbs.
Chris Deeb
Christopher Deeb serves as the fifth President of the Cobb County Republican Assembly, having succeeded Debbie Fisher, Frank Molesky, Debra Williams, and Michael Davis in that position. He is the father of two daughters, and husband to Lily Deeb, who currenlty serves as the Cobb GOP Secretary. As a professional he works as a senior software engineer, and grew up in metro-Atlanta, graduating from the University of Georgia Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science.
Joel Allen
In addition, the Cobb RAs voted earlier to elect Joel Allen the new Secretary on the Executive Committee to replace Catherine Floam. Catherine is also now serving on the Cobb County Republican Party’s Executive Committee. Prior to that, the position was held by Jeff Souther, another admirable activist for the Cobb Republican cause. Joel also serves as a House District Chairman for the Cobb County Republican Party.
We appreciate both of these men offering themselves to serve in these roles.
State Rep. Bert Reeves being applauded by Speaker David Ralston
State Rep. Bert Reeves (Marietta), a crony of corrupt Speaker of the House David Ralston (Blue Ridge), has announced that he is resigning from the legislature to work for GA Tech. This announcement has triggered a jungle special election to take place on June 15th for the central-Cobb district.
Former State Rep. Charles Gregory
Bert Reeves has a “D” rating from the GRA with a voting scorecard of only 27 points. Several Democrats in the legislature have better voter scores than Reeves has. He was first elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives with the backing of corrupt Speaker David Ralston’s Swamp-machine in Atlanta in order to defeat constitutionalist Republican State Rep. Charles Gregory (Kennesaw)—a champion for constitutional carry in the legislature. Gregory had defeated Ralston’s former crony State Rep. Judy Manning (Kennesaw) in the 2012 primary election by 819 votes. After winning that election, Gregory quickly developed a reputation similar to the late, great State Rep. Bobby Franklin (Cherokee) of voting out of lock-step with Ralston’s Establishment agenda. Besides being a stalwart champion of gun-rights for Georgia citizens, Gregory stood up for jury nullification and opposed increased debt spending for the state budget and corporate welfare expansions. He was labeled by Ralston has a “troublemaker” and targeted for defeat in the next Republican primary.
Ralston maneuvered support behind Gregory’s primary opponent, whom he groomed in 2014. That included not only raising funds for Reeves but also arranging for a major slander attack campaign against him. As a result, Ralston helped Reeves beat Gregory in the 2014 Republican primary by 247 votes. He accomplished this with the help of the then-Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy (who is now serving time in prison), and Dendy’s then 1st Vice Chair Rose Wing. Ralston pulled the same stunt successfully with small-government Republican colleague State Rep. Sam Moore (Cherokee), but was finally blocked when he attempted to pull off a third squashing of a strong constitutionalist Republican when he encountered State Rep. Matt Gurtler (Tiger). Gurtler managed to withstand two attempts by Ralston to defeat him in Republican primary challenges before he finally ran for Congress.
Now seven years later, it is sad that former State Rep. Charles Gregory no longer lives in House District 34 in Cobb County and so could not qualify to run for the seat.
Instead, two other Republican candidates have qualified to run in this special election: David Blinkhorn and Devan Seabaugh. Not much is known about where they really stand under pressure on Republican principles or what their track record might be, if they have one. Blinkhorn is a former Kennesaw Councilman with some voting history on local issues.
In addition, this jungle special election will include a Libertarian named Chris Neill and two Democrats: Sam Hensley, Jr. and Priscilla Smith.
This coming Saturday at 10:00am, Congressional District GOP delegates will be gathering to elect new organization executive committee officers, state committee members to the GAGOP, and district committee members. To see Republicans make gains in Georgia for the 2022 elections (and prevent the state from flipping blue), we need principled activists in these positions of influence more than ever before!
That’s why we’re pleased to see an influx of new activist fired up after the fiascos with the voting system in Georgia last year. Working with our principled and experienced activists from the GRA, these new folks have already made strides to bring in fresh improved leadership during the county conventions.
At the Republican county convention today, held at Roswell Street Baptist Church, three candidates for Chair and their slates saw their campaigns reach their conclusion as the delegates were finally called upon to vote.
The election was delayed after the Nominating Committee announced it had its own slate compiled from the candidates the majority of that committee deemed to be the best candidates for the different executive positions. Debate ensued from the floor that the delegates had the right to vote on the three original slates offered by candidates Salleigh Grubbs, Pamela Alayon, and Lisa Adkins. A minority report from some members fo the Nominating Committee (including Cobb RA members Nathaniel Darnell and Frank Molesky) was given echoing the concern that the three original slates should have been presented by the Nominating Committee.
Nathaniel Darnell
“The primary thing we on the Nominating Committee should be doing,” said Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell, “is ensuring that none of the candidates running for Republican officer or delegate positions are under-cover Democrats. Second, we should ensure each officer candidate is capable at some minimum level of performing the job they’re running for. Beyond that, it gets very subjective. And, of course, the Establishment wing that favors Big Government and Corporate Welfare is going to tend to oppose principled candidates who have a reputation for standing up against those kinds of corruption. That is certainly part of what we witnessed in the discussion in the Nominating Committee that led to their proposed alternative slate.”
The debate over the Nominating Committee slate took up over 30 minutes of time at the Cobb County GOP Convention—time which could have been spent discussing and passing the submitted resolutions. The Nominating Committee slate was predictably shot down, and the time wasted on that discussion ensured that the convention never got to address the resolutions. The Cobb GOP had only negotiated to have the facility at Roswell Street Baptist Church rented for use until 2:30pm, and the convention used up all of that time voting on the slates of officers, delegates, and alternates, being forced to postpone the resolutions for consideration until later when the new Cobb County GOP Committee meets for the first time under its new county chairwoman.
Of course, it would not be surprising if ensuring the body of the convention never got to vote on the resolutions was part of what the Establishment intended all along. It was pretty clear that most activist delegates in the Cobb GOP favored the proposed resolutions passed in other counties that called for reprimanding elected officials such as Secretary of State Raffensperger and Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan due to their role in enabling the likely election fraud and abuse that took place last year. Many in the GOP Establishment were hoping to avoid that embarrassment even though activists in the party are threatening to leave the GOP altogether if such officials are not held accountable.
Salleigh Grubbs
In perhaps another example of Establishment-wing craftiness, the Nominating Committee slate nominated Salleigh Grubbs for the Chair position to run against her original slate. Some suspected that this move was intended to dilute the vote of her supporters and eliminate her candidacy on the first ballot. But when the Nominating Committee slate was shot down, that removed any confusion as for which slate her supporters would vote. Although the exact results of the election were not announced, witnesses of the tally reported that Salleigh’s margin of victory was substantial, just shy of a super-majority. Cobb RA member candidate Pamela Alayon and her slate came in second place. Lisa Adkins and her slate came in third place.
Debbie Fisher
Besides Salleigh, most of the new Cobb GOP Executive Committee is composed of Cobb RA members—particularly Cobb RA President Debbie Fisher, who was elected as Vice Chair of Grassroots Development. Debbie Fisher was elected last year as President of the Cobb RA chapter due in no small part to her efforts to hold the then Republican (in name only)-controlled Cobb County Commissioners accountable for their wasteful spending and ensuing tax increases. Debbie has been assigned with putting together a task force to monitor and rate the votes of the county commissioners as we seek to keep Republicans in Cobb more aware of the activities of their local government.
Overall, the election of Salleigh’s new team appears to represent a victory for the grassroots Republican activists over the fat-cat, corporate welfare Establishment that seeks to insulate itself from accountability. Salleigh was first inspired to get more involved last November after the reports of election fraud and abuse put the outcome of the general election in doubt. She and her supporters will be working hard to implement reforms prior to election year 2022.
As we see the Cobb RAs continue to grow in influence, it’s impressive to consider how many candidates from the three slates campaigning for Cobb GOP Executive Committee positions are a part of our membership.
15 of the 24 candidates running for executive committee positions in the Cobb GOP are approved Cobb GRA members, including Salleigh Grubbs, Pamela Alayon, Jeff Souther, Alicia Adams, Debbie Fisher (our chapter President), Eileen Alberstadt, Chase Sanger, Cameron Whiting, Fun Fong, Catherine Floam, Mario Russo, David Tulka, Cecilia Rodriguez, Audrey Neu, and Lily Deeb.
Each of these people have pledged to support and promote the principles of the Republican Assembly—and none of them have a reputation contrary to those principles. There are some other candidates, however, who’s past history is possibly contrary to the principles of the Republican Assembly.
The Cobb County Republican Assembly (Cobb RAs) completed the voting for its Electronic Endorsement Convention last Friday, April 2nd at 10pm. In honor of the Good Friday / Easter / Resurrection Sunday weekend, the Cobb RA board decided to wait to announce the results until today.
The Electronic Endorsement Convention was conducted after the completion of our Candidate Forum last Tuesday, providing participants with an education to make an informed decision. Here are some photos of that event (thanks to John Delves to taking many of these photos):
Chairman Nathaniel Darnell explains the RAs
Lisa Adkins
Salleigh Grubbs
The candidates answer questions
Violinists playing “The Star Spangled Banner”
Attendees singing the 1st & 4th verses of The National Anthem
Our volunteers running registration
According to the bylaws of the Georgia Republican Assembly and of the Cobb chapter, candidates can only be endorsed by at least two-third majority of the participating RA membership. Members had three days to register and vote. Voters got to choose between four options: Lisa Adkins, Pamela Alayon, Salleigh Grubbs, or no endorsement at all.
Last night the Cobb County Republican Assembly (Cobb RAs) hosted a Candidate Forum featuring all three candidate for Cobb County GOP Chair and several of their slate officers. For a two-hour marathon the candidates answered 25 questions pre-submitted to the Cobb RA from various activists in the county. Lisa Adkins, Pamela Alayon, and Salleigh Grubbs answered most of the questions, as the chair candidates. The forum was moderated by the Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell.
Next week all the candidates will be interviewed privately by the Cobb GOP Nominating Committee, but these video-recorded interviews will provide any delegates voting at the Cobb County GOP Convention an opportunity to vet the candidates themselves before deciding with slate or candidates to vote to elect as officers for the next two years.
Now you can watch the video on the Cobb RA YouTube Channel at the link below.
After the Candidate Forum, GRA members who are a part of the Cobb County chapter will have the opportunity to participate in the Cobb RA’s Electronic Endorsement Convention, which started last night at 9pm and runs until 10pm on Friday, April 2nd. If you desire to participate in the Electronic Endorsement Convention, please be sure to follow the instructions carefully as refunds will not be provided to those who pay but do not qualify to vote. As usual, in order for anyone to have a vote in the Electronic Endorsement Convention, they must first be an approved GRA member, and they must also pay their registration fee on the Electronic Endorsement Convention’s EventBrite page here. An endorsement of a local candidate can only happen if at least two-thirds of the participating Cobb RA members vote in favor of endorsing one of the candidates. Members always have the option to vote for “no endorsement.” We look forward to seeing what our membership decides!
Last weekend the Cobb County Republican Party held its Precinct Mass Meeting (PMM) a week ahead of when most other counties in Georgia will host theirs. Although the county has taken some hits just as the rest of the state in the recent elections, a new wave of activists showed up to pack-out the Hilton Marietta Conference Center ballroom where the event was being held.
The Cobb GOP Executive Committee
The Cobb GOP Executive Committee that is about to conclude their term next month honored the retiring Chairman Jason Shepherd for his tireless service for the county over the last four years with a plaque and a few kind words. Shepherd’s election with the help the Cobb RAs marked an improvement in internal Cobb Republican politics in the aftermath of many problems created under predecessors such as Joe Dendy. Still, there is much more work that needs to be done to improve the county further.
528 possible delegates and alternates were nominated at the Cobb PMM to serve in the Cobb County Republican Party’s County Convention. Although that is not a record, it is better participation than Cobb has seen over over a decade.
The high attendance at the PMM this year is driven in no small part by the erupting concerns many have about the alleged voter fraud. Republicans in Georgia who have been busy with other aspects of their lives were motived to get involved more in local politics after witnessing the fiascos of the general election, the recount, and the runoff. Their presence is welcome as many existing volunteers have been suffering from burnout and are desperate for reinforcements.
This morning at the Cobb County GOP Breakfast, a third candidate added her name to the race for Cobb County GOP Chair; lifelong resident of Marietta, GA, a business leader and recent Cobb RA member, Salleigh Grubbs.
Salleigh Grubbs
Salleigh joins a race that has two Republican women running for Chair, Pam Alayon and Dr. Lisa Adkins. Salleigh’s motivation to join the race came after witnessing the frustrating outcomes of the 2020 general election where Cobb County lost every seat and majority except for the School Board. Like many conservative patriots, Salleigh has expressed her fear for the direction that our Country and County is headed and Saturday morning she stated that we have a trust problem in the Republican Party. During her announcement Salleigh said, “What defines us are our principles, our Conservative principles,” which reiterates a message the Cobb RA has promoted for years!
According to her speech and press release, for the past 30 years Salleigh has proven her leadership skills as a successful business executive in the Chemical Coating Industry. She has been involved in Civic organizations and Politics throughout her adult life as a citizen advocate who defends our Constitution, promotes Republican values and the principles of smaller government, lower taxes and education. Salleigh’s civic involvement includes the following activities: current Treasurer of the Chemical Coaters Association of Georgia and the past president, former Voice of Democracy Judge for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and past member of the Marietta Middle School SGT. Since the 2020 Election Salleigh has been working every day to restore Republican principles, defend freedom and fight for election integrity in her county and state.
Salleigh announced that she was proud to have received several endorsements from notable politicos. The admired conservative former Cobb County Board of Commissioner Chairman, Bill Byrne said of her: “Cobb County is in dire need for strong and conservative party leadership to address the needs of the Republican Party and it is with a great deal of pleasure to support and endorse Salleigh Grubbs to lead the party into the future.”
Conservative Radio talk show host, John Fredrick’s told his listeners that Salleigh is doing exactly what needs to be done all across America; she is the perfect person that is needed to make the necessary changes in the Cobb County Republican Party. In a press release he also had this to say; “More conservative America First agenda citizens like Salleigh Grubbs need to step up and run for office – whether it is for the Republican Party, or local, state and national offices!” You can read more about Salleigh on her website https://rallywithsalleigh.com/.
Today the Cobb County Republican Assembly hosted another training session to equip a new wave of activists in how to navigate the Precinct Mass Meeting and County Convention. Although the training was primarily regarding Cobb, activists from neighboring counties also participating, including residents from Gwinnett, Fulton, and DeKalb.
The training was led by Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell and GRA President Alex Johnson, and walked participants through the big picture of how the convention system works and proceeds and what is necessary to be most effective. Often, new activists are overwhelmed and confused about how the system works and feel like they don’t know what is going on around them when they get involved. This training was designed to clear much of that up and enable these new recruits to be aware and effective from day one.
Much of the time was also spent introducing participants to parliamentary procedure. GRA President Alex Johnson led the crowd in a mock-convention to help them get comfortable understanding the terms, order of business, and motions that would be used.
We appreciate the work of all our volunteers who helped to organize this event, provide food, and run registration. We especially thank our Cobb RA President Debbie Fisher, our Secretary Catherine Floam, our Treasurer Kerry Kee, and our member Mrs. Abigail Darnell for all the work they did to make things run smoothly.
The group was composed of mostly new faces, and each participant spoke in front of the group, introduced themselves, and explained what it was that motivated each of them to get more involved in Republican activism at this point in time. An overwhelming number of them expressed concern especially with the evidence of voter fraud and abuse they believe occurred in the elections last year.
The training was led by Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell and GRA President Alex Johnson, and walked participants through the big picture of how the convention system works and proceeds and what is necessary to be most effective. Often, new activists are overwhelmed and confused about how the system works and feel like they don’t know what is going on around them when they get involved. This training was designed to clear much of that up and enable these new recruits to be aware and effective from day one.
We appreciate the work of all our volunteers who helped to organize this event, provide food, and run registration. We especially thank our Cobb RA President Debbie Fisher, our Secretary Catherine Floam, our Treasurer Kerry Kee, and our member Mrs. Abigail Darnell for all the work they did to make things run smoothly.
