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 here. Remember 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
Roswell, GA — We had a great time last night with folks who came out for our annual Caucus & Convention Training. In addition to having many guests from Cobb, we also had visitors from Paulding, Fulton, Forsyth, and Gwinnett show up.
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!
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 NickSteinichen, 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.”
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!
Last week Sen. Ed Setzler (R- Acworth) announced he was considering legislation that will allow County Commission races to be non-partisan. This would allow candidates across Georgia to run “undercover” and prevent them from having to publicly state with which party they affiliate.
It is self-evident how politicians would benefit from this new secrecy, creating more ignorant voters, but would voters and taxpayers benefit from not knowing the ideology of the candidates?
“You look at Smyrna, Marietta, Acworth as examples, Powder Springs,” said Sen. Setzler. “These are well-run cities that run on consensus. There’s a lot less acrimony, and I think they do a whole lot better delivering services for our citizens than the Cobb County Commission of the last couple years has shown us. And I think Cobb would really benefit from making the change.”
One has to wonder why a self-professed Republican might be scared of candidates identifying with the Republican platform positions. Furthermore, why would we want to allow Democrats to hide their extreme ideology? After all, they are the ones who deny the basic biology of sex and believe it is morally good for minors to be exposed to pornography and permanently destroy their reproductive system with surgery.
“As Shakespeare has said, ‘A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet’ and a Democrat by any other name would be just as bad,” said Nathaniel Darnell, Cobb RA Chairman. “We often observe that in other non-partisan races, such as judicial races, that low-information voters default to re-electing the incumbent.”
Some politicians like to talk like there is no ideology at play in local government, but this is false and anyone who has attended a Cobb Commission meeting in the last year knows it.
Please contact Sen. Ed Setzler and let him know you oppose making the Cobb Commission candidates pretend to be bi-partisan.
• Contact Sen. Ed Setzler:ed.setzler@senate.ga.gov
Ideology Matters in Local Government
The “acrimony” in Cobb’s local government that Sen. Setzler is concerned about points to the fact that there is indeed ideology at play in local government. One of the fundamental differences between the political parties is a disagreement about what “services” local government should provide. Should the government give you cradle-to-the-grave, nanny-state socialism?
In 2022 the Cobb County Commission wanted to provide the “service” of a county-wide trash removal program, a government monopoly to the company lucky enough to get the contract, thereby destroying the free-market competition provided by competing trash service companies. Democrats on the County Commission thought this “service” was a great idea to let the government forcibly take money from taxpayers and coerce them into receiving this “service”, whether they liked the service or not. This would have resulted in yet another monstrous, unaccountable, non-optional, government bureaucracy that is far more slow to respond to the needs of the people than the free market. Thankfully, Cobb RA members organized the community in a “Save My Cobb Trash Collector” campaign and successfully stopped this egregious assault on freedom.
Should the County Commission fund a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” program to indoctrinate citizens with tax dollars? How would you know if a candidate is likely to support a DEI program if they don’t state a party affiliation up front?
On Thursday, Cobb School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced 13 books that will no longer be available in Cobb government school libraries, due to the content being inappropriate for children. Concerned parents have been sounding the alarm in Cobb County and this decision is doubtless the fruit of their efforts.
“We are declining to provide access to materials with sexually explicit content in the same way we decline to provide access to rated-R movies and—in compliance with federal law—use internet filters to prevent students from accessing websites with adult content on school district computers,” said Ragsdale.
Ragsdale pulled the first set of inappropriate books last September and received tremendous opposition from all of the Democrat School Board members and intense protest from left-wing activists. Twice during the School Board meeting public commenters attempted to read from the books in question and were stopped because the content they were quoting was too graphic to be broadcast on the meeting recording. The speaker was allowed to continue only after the recording was muted. This begs the question, if the content is too graphic to be featured on the school system website, why should minor children have unrestricted access to this content in their school library?
If you have to mute the speaker to protect the citizens, maybe children shouldn’t be allowed to read it?
One Cobb RA Member described the books as “pure porn.” One of the many concerns with exposing children to lewd content is that it is likely to make them more susceptible to groomers who would more easily exploit them, and that the child may develop a life-long addiction to pornography that would wreck their future marriage and relationships.
The titles removed by Superintendent Ragsdale were these:
We’d like to invite you to join us on Thursday evening, August 22nd, for a special pre-release showing of the final cut of the Reagan Movie! About twelve years ago, when I was paying my way through law school while working as film editor in San Antonio, I had the pleasure of meeting the filmmakers behind this movie when it was in the early stages of pre-production. I can’t tell you how excited I am that they finally got it made after all these years!
My wife and I had the delight of seeing an early cut of the film back in May, and it brought tears to our eyes. While there are many excellent documentaries about the life of our 40th President, we have never seen a dramatic film made about him before that was not out to make him look like a bafoon or heartless. What people will see in this film is a moving depiction of Reagan’s heroic presidency in spite of his flaws. It pays honor to a man who helped to tun the tide of American history. The Republican Party, and the world, has not been the same since Ronald Reagan.
So what a great way for us to get in the mood right before campaigning gets into high gear for the November General Election than to go and see this movie together! Supporting the movie will also support the brave independent filmmakers who have labored for so long to bring this to the screen.
Come join us on Thursday evening, August 22nd, at 6:00pm for this special pre-release showing of the FINAL CUT of the new Reagan Movie — hosted by the Cobb County Republican Assembly! The showing will be at the NCG Acworth Movie Theater. Those who register will receive a drink and popcorn along with their movie ticket!
Seating is limited! There is an early bird $5 discount if you register before August 20th.
Here is a summary of the event:
Reagan Movie Night Location: NCG Acworth Movie Theater 4421 Cinema Dr, Acworth, GA 30101 Time: 6:00pm EST Cost: $35 for movie, popcorn, & drink
Funds raised go to the support of local Republican candidates in the general election.
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!
With the Republican Primary runoffs now behind us, we are in full swing for the general elections, and we in the Cobb County Republican Assembly have teamed up with some of our local Cobb GOP House District and precinct officers to host a Candidate Meet & Greet event on July 25th to which we wanted to invite you!
This event will be a fine opportunity for you and your neighbors to meet candidates in four pivotal races here in Cobb, to pick their brains, to volunteer to help their campaigns, and to make donations for their races.
The following candidates have been invited to participate in this event: Brad Wheeler for re-election to the County School Board, Kay Morgan for County Commission Chair, David Cavender for County Sheriff, and Gary Chaffee for State Representative in House District 35. So far Wheeler, Morgan, and Chaffee have already confirmed.
Gary Chaffee is running for State House on a slogan of “God, Family, & the Constitution,” and received the GRA endorsement in the Republican primary. He faces incumbent Democrat Lisa Campbell in the Acworth area near KSU. You can learn more about his race at https://chaffeeforga.com/.
Chris Ragsdale
Brad Wheeler has taken some strong stands on the Cobb County School Board, supporting the Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and opposing the intrusion of trans and woke ideologies in the classroom and in other school functions behind the backs of the parents. The county school board is the only one that Republicans still have a majority on in Cobb County, and many believe that if the board flips Democrat, it will have a negative impact on housing values in the county.
Wheeler’s race is especially being targeted by Democrats, and he faces Democrat challenger Andrew Cole, who garnered over 1,000 more votes in his primary race than the Republican.
We plan to organize door-knock campaign teams for Wheeler in September to help ensure strong turnout from Republicans in the district. Check out his re-elections campaign web site at https://www.brad4cobb.com/.
Kay Morgan and David Cavender are challenging Democrat incumbents for county-wide races on the county commission and sheriff’s office, respectively. Republicans are grateful for them stepping up to run. Kay’s campaign web site against Lisa Cupid is https://kayforcobbchair.com/, and David’s web site is https://www.cavender4cobb.com/.
Here is a summary of the event:
Candidate Meet & Greet Address:4905 Amberton Dr SW, Powder Springs, GA 30127 Date: July 25, 2024 Start time: 6:30pm Cost: Free!
