Author: Cobb Republican Assembly

The Cobb County RAs Endorse Sophia Farooq & Her Slate for Cobb GOP Leadership!

The Cobb County RAs Endorse Sophia Farooq & Her Slate for Cobb GOP Leadership!

It’s official: Candidate Sophia Farooq & her slate have won the endorsement of the membership of the Cobb County Republican Assembly! This is a tough accomplishment since all Republican Assembly organizations require a 2/3rds majority vote of the participating membership. To win the endorsement, Sophia and her team had to get twice as many endorsement votes as the other two candidates combined, as well as the votes for “no endorsement.”  Every RA endorsement requires an option for “no endorsement.” Sophia did that with votes to spare.

Over the last few years, those of us who have volunteered alongside Sophia in the Cobb RAs and in the Cobb GOP have rubbed shoulders with her, working with her and several of her slate candidates on outreach projects.

Responses to our survey question 1 on the ballot.

We have gotten to know them personally.

We’ve seen Sophia’s temperament, her work ethic, her ambition for Republican growth (particularly in South Cobb), and her practical principled approach first-hand. She has a record of issue-based community engagement. We believe she has earned credibility through her track-record.

Foremost among our reasons for endorsing her is that we believe she is the candidate among the three most likely to advance the mission of the Republican Assembly by helping us promote the principles of the Republican Party ahead of the politicians. At the Candidate Forum we hosted last week, she spoke unequivocally about being united around advancing policies and principles and entrusting the grassroots membership with the power to speak through the Cobb GOP to provide feedback to our Republican politicians. Whether that be through resolutions or other means.

Click to watch the video of the Cobb RA Candidate Forum.

Sophia is a hard-worker who loves this country. She is committed to holding Republican politicians accountable. She’s actually been making improvements in the Cobb House District she has Chaired over the last two years. An area in Cobb that many would write off.

Moreover, the Cobb RA condemns the racist attacks and smear campaign that has been waged against Sophia by activists mostly outside Cobb County who don’t even know her. Sophia has honestly acknowledged that she grew up in a Muslim family and considers herself to belong to that religion at this time, but at the same time she condemned Hamas and all other terrorism. She said she believes Israel has the right to defend themselves from terrorism.

“Let us beware displaying prejudice and racist stereotyping by suggesting that all Muslims or people with Middle East ancestry are terrorists. If I said something like that about a candidate, the Establishment would waste no time in calling me a bigot, yet that is what they, and people being used as their proxies, appear to be implying about Sophia,” said Nathaniel Darnell, the Cobb RA Chairman. 

Andrew Mason

The members of the Cobb RA chapter who have served alongside Sophia never have had reason to question her character or her loyalty to this country and the principles that have made America great. She worked hard to help Trump win election last year.

At our Candidate Forum, Sophia openly declared, “I stand with Israel” and “I oppose all forms of terrorism.” See video time code: 55:08. (She also mentioned that some of her siblings have married into families of Christian and Jewish faiths.)

In fact, one of the members of her slate, Andrew Mason, has previously served as an Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Navy Reserve and Dale Jones, her Vice Chair candidate, is a former Navy Officer. They recognize that Sophia loves America and shares our gratitude for President Trump and the MAGA agenda. 

Karee Grier

We are also excited to support Cobb GRA member and HD 38 Chair Karee Grier who is running for Assistant Secretary on Sophia’s slate. Karee and her husband Marty have been instrumental in engaging the Christian community in the GOP in Cobb. They have facilitated Biblical Citizenship and Constitution Alive classes in church settings, helping others understand the importance of the Christian faith applied in constitutional principles toward preserving America’s founding values.

The GOP platform, like our founding documents, reflects a Christian worldview. For example, it states: 

“We, the Georgia Republican Party, do affirm our belief in God, and hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created in the image of God and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Sophia’s current religion may be different from that of our founding fathers, yet she shares an appreciation for the principles they promoted, and the principles we fight for today in the Republican Party. In many ways, she has conducted herself more consistently with biblical Christian teaching than others involved in politics who call themselves “Christian,” but, as Jesus said, “do not do what I say” (Luke 6:46; cf. John 14:15) (emphasis added).

So we hope everyone will set aside these smears and focus instead on presenting a positive agenda for improvement and growth in the Cobb County Republican Party. If you are a Cobb delegate, we recommend Sophia and her team for your support on Saturday.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our county Endorsement Convention!

Responses to our survey question 3 on the ballot.
Cobb Republican Assembly Hosting a Candidate Forum & Electronic Endorsement Convention

Cobb Republican Assembly Hosting a Candidate Forum & Electronic Endorsement Convention

As Chairman Salleigh Grubbs wraps up her second term, three candidates have announced that they are running to succeed her for Cobb GOP Chairman this year: Dr. Fun Fong, Sophia Farooq, and Mary Clarice Hathaway. All three of them have confirmed that they are coming to speak at our Thursday, March 13th Cobb County Republican Assembly Candidate Forum! We invite you to come hear them speak and ask questions of each of them and their proposed slates of other Executive officers.

Four years ago, we hosted a similar candidate forum between three candidates, and participants found it was very helpful in helping them decide who to elect.

The forum this year will be held at the Cobb Computer Museum of America at 5000 Commerce Parkway, Roswell, GA 30076. Folks will start gathering at 6:00pm and the program should start at 6:30pm.

Attendees will need to pay a nominal $5 per person to help cover the cost of the venue. You can pay at the door or preregister online here.

After the forum, the Cobb RA chapter will be holding an Online Endorsement Vote among members of the Cobb County Republican Assembly, which will run online March 17th – 18th. You will have to already be an approved member in order to vote on endorsing one of the candidates / slates in this Cobb GOP Chairman’s race. If you would like to apply to join, click hereRemember that it takes a two-thirds majority of the participating Cobb RA membership to endorse a candidate according to our rules.

We appreciate Cobb RA chapter President Chris Deeb for arranging for this forum!

To summarize the event details:

Cobb RA Candidate Forum & Endorsement Convention
Where: Cobb Computer Museum of America
Address: 5000 Commerce Parkway, Roswell, GA 30076
Date: March 13, 2025
Time: 6:30pm
Cost: $5

Preregister for the Candidate Forum on March 13th by clicking here.

Door-Knocking Success!

Door-Knocking Success!

We had a successful Republican candidate door-knocking blitz last Saturday for our endorsed State House candidate Gary Chaffee and for Brad Wheeler for re-election to the county School Board! Over the course of the day, we reached out to several hundred households, left candidate brochures, and had wholesome conversations. Overall, the reception was very pleasant. Folks were honored that we would personally reach out to them to inform them about these critical races.

Gary Chaffee is running against a radical first-term Democrat Lisa Campbell (with an “F” 22% vote score in 2024) who, for example, voted that non-citizens can vote in GA elections (HR780) and voted to allow gender reassignment for minors (SB140). People we spoke to were shocked to learn this information. But few are aware of what happens at the State House level, since the media focuses mostly on national politics, and gives little attention to local politics and almost none to the state level. 

People were also pleased to hear about the good work Brad Wheeler has done over the years on the county school board, and how he has supported Superintendent Ragsdale. We need to maintain the Republican-majority on the county school board and Wheeler has been targeted by Democrats in this election.

There are still opportunities to volunteer for these exceptional Republican candidates. Just send us a message if you would like to volunteer to door-knock or make phone calls for either one of them. 

Both campaigns will continue to have teams working their precincts over next few weeks leading up to early voting, which starts on October 15th. 

Also, Trump Force 47 has volunteers door-knocking for our endorsed candidate for POTUS Donald Trump, if you would like to help with that outreach!

Cobb Parents & Pastors Unite to Protect Children From Pornographic Novels in Schools

Cobb Parents & Pastors Unite to Protect Children From Pornographic Novels in Schools

Marietta, GA — On Thursday evening, a group of concerned parents gathered for a press conference before the monthly School Board meeting to expose the harmful pornographic novels in Cobb County school libraries. They were joined by incumbent Republican school board members Brad Wheeler and Randy Scamihorn.

Cobb County Board of Education Building in Marietta

Arielle Kurtze is the mother of three government school students who was the first to raise this issue before the School Board in September of 2023, praising the decision to remove some of the inappropriate books.

“What should have been an easy and common sense solution has turned into a political and social fight in our community,” said Kurtze.

The press conference featured numerous pastors and two school board members who spoke in support of the Superintendent’s decision. The Democrat members on the school board previously attempted to pass a policy change that would have prevented the Superintendent from being allowed to independently remove titles from school libraries, but that vote failed along party lines, with Republicans holding a one vote majority. Superintendent Ragsdale has been open about not being deterred from protecting students and continues to receive support from the community for his courage and initiative in this effort.

“This is egregious and a nefarious agenda that is attempting to indoctrinate our kids, trying to groom them, it is actual soft pedaling pedophilia. It even promotes rape culture with the language… it begins to warp their sexual preferences toward things like violence,” said Pastor Frankie Vega of Awakening and Reformation Center. 

Beside the press conference was a table for the other side featuring numerous controversial books, a flag saying “Read Banned Books” and signs and t-shirts calling for the removal of Superintendent Ragsdale. A group supporting the obscene books gathered around the table and were joined by Andrew Cole, the Democrat candidate challenging Brad Wheeler for Post 7. By displaying copies of the objectionable books, they proved the books were not in fact “banned.” If the books were truly “banned,” you wouldn’t be allowed to purchase or own them. These books were simply removed from children’s libraries that are funded by tax-dollars. It is expected that if the Democrats gain a majority in the November 5th election, they will fire Superintendent Ragsdale and reintroduce all of these books into Cobb’s school libraries.

The so-called “banned books”

Members of the anti-child-innocence group on the side took the opportunity to heckle and contradict speakers on more than one occasion during the press conference. 

Speakers recommended voters visit the web site www.booksinschools.com and take time to read for themselves the content in question. You will find the removed books contain graphic depictions and first person narratives of teen fornication, and teen homosexual perverted acts, sexual abuse, teen drug and alcohol abuse, attempted suicide. The narrative in books like Flamer is so explicit and so vile the school district won’t allow you to read it aloud on their recording of the school board meeting. Speakers attempting to read from the books get stopped and the video recording paused before they are allowed to continue. Posting such obscene language might leave the school district liable and vulnerable to lawsuits, but if it is inappropriate for the general public, why give it to children? 

Cobb School Board member Randy Scamihorn speaking at the press conference

“We have to be the adults in the room, that is our job,” said Brad Wheeler, one of the school board members featured. “I’ll never support the material you’ve seen at booksinschools.com.”

Democrat candidate Andrew Cole (holding phone) stands with the porn promoters.

The school board has been split along party lines, with Republicans favoring the protection of children and Democrats opposing it.  

It is worth noting that the books removed are not biology text books. These are not descriptions found in a health class. These are novels that are shaping the minds of the next generation, and while many of them have been removed, there are more concerning books that are awaiting review, such as “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” a story that centers on a teen girls journey into fornication and rebellion against her concerned parents, and contains explicit details.

“I’ve read some of this material – a lot of it, and let me tell you, it’s disgusting! I would not have grown men in my church read this material, much less children reading this material,” said Pastor Nick Steinichen, of Four Points Church in Kennesaw. He referenced the gratuitous use of profanity, another common theme in the books, including frequent use of “the N-word,” which encourages children to use it themselves. He also referenced the graphic depiction of attempted suicide featured in the notorious book Flamer

“I asked myself this question… What kind of grown adults wants kids to read these books? And why?” He quoted Matthew 18:6, saying, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

He took the opportunity to urge everyone in the group of hecklers supporting the books to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for salvation.

The indoctrination is not subtle anymore and the left continues to plow through every cultural standard of sexual ethics, relentlessly pushing the envelope to normalize sexual deviancy and sexual acts Americans once considered criminal. Leftists claim conservatives are simply behind the times and not progressing with the changing culture, while being themselves the agents of cultural change by normalizing perversion. They defend their actions by saying anyone appalled by explicit sexual narratives being given to children are people who “just don’t understand this decade.” People concerned about the breakdown of the family, it’s impact on the economy and the next generation, would do well to take heed to what is occurring behind the backs of parents in government schools around the country.

“As a parent of small children, I am extremely conscious of the fact that the books I read to my children are shaping their view or reality, their worldview, their sense of right and wrong, and their sense of normal and abnormal. Their limited life experiences are greatly supplemented by the books they read. To pretend like the books we encourage children to read are all, generic, neutral and equal is absurd,” said Abigail Darnell

“We want to protect our children both physically as well as mentally, and give parents a chance… to make individual decisions about how to educate their children,” said Randy Scamihorn, another Republican School Board Member. “We need appropriate material at the appropriate level, and we need to remove that material that is not appropriate. And sexually graphic material is not appropriate.”

Great Time at the Special Pre-Release Cobb RA Reagan Movie Showing

Great Time at the Special Pre-Release Cobb RA Reagan Movie Showing

Acworth, GA — We had a great gathering of Republican activists last Thursday evening for the pre-release showing of the new Reagan Movie! Funds raised at the event, which was hosted by our Cobb RA chapter led by Chris Deeb, will go to help elect locally endorsed candidates.

Attendees enjoyed the film and promised to tell their friends. The movie releases nation-wide this coming Friday, August 30th, so please go see it and support it at the box office!

Attendees reflecting on the movie afterwards in the theater lobby.

Republican school board candidate Brad Wheeler spoke before the audience about his critical race to preserve the Republican majority in Cobb.

“Reagan was fighting Communism in his day,” said GRA Chairman Alex Johnson, “and we are still fighting Communism today!” Marxism may have manifested itself through the Communism of Soviet Russia 40 years ago, but today it’s been reinvented as “social-justice,” Wokism, and the like.

This is the first positive biopic made about America’s 40th President, and watching it together is a great way to get our minds in gear for the effort in the general election.

Ms. Annette on the right with GRA President & Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell served as a Reagan volunteer in the ’76 and ’80 national conventions! She was excited to see much of the history she lived through on the big screen — and she’s ready to make history again!
Successful Candidate Meet ‘n Greet

Successful Candidate Meet ‘n Greet

Powder Springs, GA — Thank you to everyone who came out to the Candidate Meet ‘n Greet we co-hosted with the Cobb GOP LM03 precinct in House District 19 on July 25th. In addition to hearing from some remarkable candidates like Gary Chaffee and Bradford Wheeler, we were pleased to be joined by Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs and the new GA GOP National Committeewoman Amy Kremer (both Cobb RA members). The room was packed.

Under the leadership of our Cobb RA President Chris Deeb, the Cobb County Republican Assembly has also been pleased to donate several thousand dollars to key candidates in local races. 

Our Treasurer Angie Rawles has gone the extra mile to make campaign buttons for these candidates that she delivered with their donation checks (as you can see in the photo).

Our ability to help these candidates is made possible by the generosity of our members and event attendees, so thank you!

We will also be organizing campaign door knocking in the month of September, so let us know if you would like to volunteer to help with promoting some of these exceptional Republican candidates!

Cobb GOP Scales Back Excessive Restrictions on Resolutions but Many Still Remain in Place

Cobb GOP Scales Back Excessive Restrictions on Resolutions but Many Still Remain in Place

Marietta, GA — The Cobb County GOP Committee met at the Switzer Library Tuesday evening primarily to fill vacancies and to vote on new rules revisions. Most of the business was not controversial, except for the rules changes related to the procedures for adopting resolutions. The meeting was well attended with 116 of the members present at the start of the meeting, although some left before the meeting adjourned.

Governor Brian Kemp

As we have reported a few times before, after the backlash the Cobb GOP received for passing a resolution reprimanding Governor Brian Kemp in September of 2021, Establishment influences in the organization led by Parliamentarian Donna Rowe pressured the committee to pendulum swing and adopt unprecedented cumbersome restrictions on how the body can introduce and pass resolutions. The Governor’s office reacted to the Kemp resolution by ostracizing the Cobb GOP, which made things particularly difficult during the 2022 election cycle.

Leroy Emkin

For the last few years, the Cobb GOP Resolutions Committee has not been able to propose resolutions directly to the county committee without first getting approval from the Cobb GOP Executive Committee. Several members of the Resolutions Committee have resigned due to these new egregious limitations that hand-cuffed the committee. On Tuesday the Rules Committee proposed a change to take away that restriction so that the Resolutions Committee could once again propose resolutions directly to the county committee. That proposal was adopted with little controversy, and it’s a correction that has been long over-due. Resolutions Committee Chairman & GRA member Leroy Emkin praised the change and thanked the committee for supporting it.

But other efforts to scale back the restrictions on resolutions were met with resistance by a minority within the committee. Since the rules changes require a two-thirds majority vote to adopt a change to the existing rules, that minority was able to block some of these additional revisions to the rules — albeit narrowly at times.

Chris Deeb

Another unusual restriction on resolutions is a requirement that all resolutions must receive a two-thirds vote to be adopted. Cobb RA President Chris Deeb pointed out that the customary vote needed for passage is a mere 50% +1.

Deeb made a motion to amend the rules to reduce the added requirement of a two-thirds majority to pass resolutions to a simple majority. Most bodies, including the GA GOP State Committee, pass resolutions by a simple majority. Catherine Floam argued against this motion, saying that the body needed to ensure there was a greater consensus from the body when dealing with potentially controversial resolutions.

Some of the committee members might have pointed out that the Kemp resolution that inspired many of these hyper-cautious reactionary restrictions passed with greater than two-thirds majority support, so this restriction would not have changed that outcome.

Nathaniel Darnell

After that motion failed, Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell proposed another motion to amend the proposed rules by removing the limitation of the county committee only being allowed to vote on two resolutions per committee meeting. Darnell pointed out that in the recent 14th District GOP Convention, the body passed 13 resolutions, and only two of those received any discussion. He also pointed out that the GA GOP State Committee took up seven resolutions in February, and passed five of them. For those who argued that resolutions don’t matter, Darnell pointed out that the State Committee passed a resolution against registered lobbyists serving on the state Board of Elections, which helped to effectively pressure registered lobbyist Ed Lindsey to recently resign from the board.

Some argued that resolutions don’t help the GOP accomplish what they see as the GOP’s mission: “to elect Republicans.” Darnell responded to this by saying that actually the real mission of the GOP is not to “elect people with an R next to their name, but to ensure that Republican policy is passed into law! We are against socialism, for example, because we are for capitalism! … People are drawn to the GOP because the party supports the issues they care about, and so the GOP must empower their volunteers to speak to their elected officials about those issues.”

Debbie Fisher

Cobb Board of Elections member & GRA member Debbie Fisher said that the real problem people usually have with resolutions is not the quantity but how long the debate over them can often go. She suggested a compromise to Darnell’s amendment which would add language limiting the debate on individual resolutions to ten minutes per resolution and an hour for all resolutions proposed. Darnell agreed to this compromise and the amendment to remove the quantity limitation on resolutions at county committee meetings passed with the time limitations added.

Darnell also proposed another amendment that would have removed the quantity restriction for resolutions at county GOP conventions. The rules currently put that restriction at four. Supporters of the amendment pointed out that leaving the restriction would induce the Resolutions Committee to look for creative work-arounds, like creating longer “omnibus” resolutions that deal with numerous subjects that may not be directly related.

Rose Wing

Past Cobb GOP Chairwoman Rose Wing, who the Cobb RA helped to successfully defeat in her re-election bid in 2017 due to her heavy-handed Establishment-oriented leadership, argued in favor of both the two resolution limitation at county committee meetings as well as the four resolution limit at county conventions.

After much debate, Darnell’s second motion to amend passed by a vote of 64 to 45. But the vote to pass the provision as amended came up a little short of the necessary two-third majority to pass. That four-resolution restriction at county conventions will remain in force for the time being.

While we applaud the progress made Tuesday evening to restore the process for the Cobb GOP to pass resolutions, much more needs to be done to simplify this process and bring it back to the free, straight-forward process it has been for decades in our county. Resolutions are an important part of how the grassroots provides feedback to the elected Republican officials at the county, state, and federal level on timely issues facing our civil government, and they should not be muzzled by a minority under the influence of the Establishment.

10 Candidates Endorsed at Regional RA METRO Endorsement Convention!

10 Candidates Endorsed at Regional RA METRO Endorsement Convention!

Three RA chapter Presidents stand on stage to welcome participants

Canton, GA — Three GRA local chapters joined together last Saturday for a combined Regional Metro Endorsement Convention. The Cobb RA chapter, the North Metro RA Chapter (which includes Cherokee & Pickens counties), and the Fulton RA chapter combined to hold a regional endorsement for local races in three congressional districts, spanning ten counties. Many GRA Members have been working for months to recruit candidates to primary RINOs and on Saturday they came together and endorsed ten candidates at this local endorsement convention.

Most of these legislative candidates at the event pledged to join the Georgia Freedom Caucus, affirmed their support for government accountability and indicated they would pattern their time in the legislature after State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade). State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee) also gave one of the keynote messages at the event, re-capping what happened during the recent legislative session, and called for more candidates to join the caucus.

Cobb RA Chairman Nathaniel Darnell, who presided over the regional endorsement convention, interviewed the candidates from the stage, and participating members took turns asking well-thought-out questions from the floor as well. 

The GRA only endorsed candidates by a two-thirds majority of the voting members at a convention. Here below are the candidates endorsed at this regional convention:

GA State House

• Charlice Byrd, HD 20 (Cherokee)
https://charlicebyrd.com

• Paul Kettering, HD 22 (Cobb & Cherokee)
https://ketteringforgahouse.com

• Gary Chafee, HD 35 (Acworth area).
https://chaffeeforga.com

• Phoebe Eckhardt, HD 47, (Milton area, North Fulton).
http://phoebe4georgiarep.com

• Norine Cantor, HD 30 (Flowery Branch)
https://www.norinecantor.com

• Michael Gordon, HD 49 (Fulton)
https://www.gordon4georgia.org

• Gregg Kirkpatrick, HD 21 (Cherokee)
https://www.kirkpatrickforga.com

Judicial

• Trey Goodwin, Cherokee Chief Magistrate

GA State Senate

• Ben Paul Fremer, SD 32 (challenging incumbent Kay Kirkpatrick)
https://www.benpaulfremer.com

U.S Congress

• Michael Pons for 11th Congressional District (Bartow, Cobb, Cherokee, Gordon, & Pickens)
https://www.mikepons.org