Georgia GOP (GAGOP) District 9 Chairwoman Rebecca Yardley announced her campaign to chair the Georgia Republican Party; current Chairman David Shafer hasn’t yet decided if he will run, but Yardley will likely face him or one of his allies in the June convention.
“Our Party deserves a chairman who is fully focused on taking the steps required to win Georgia elections. I’ve witnessed firsthand the incredible work done on the county and district levels. Now it’s time to have our top leadership at the state match the same energy, concentration, and drive shown by our local members daily,” Yardley said in a Thursday press release.
In multiple appearances on conservative radio on Thursday, Yardley said there was a need to focus more on the grassroots and to engage donors with financial transparency better.
“It’s no secret that Georgia is a major target for the Democrats in 2024. This means our party will need to raise and spend millions of dollars to not only protect seats but go on the offense and win seats. As Chairman, in addition to raising the money we need to accomplish this, I am committed to complete transparency and fiscal accountability as it pertains to the state party finances,” her site states.
Shafer said Thursday he hasn’t decided if he’ll run again.
“I have served for four years in what is a full-time volunteer job. I have to decide how I want to spend my volunteer time for the next two years. It is a family decision,” he told The Georgia Star News, adding that he’s proud of what the party has accomplished during his tenure.
“We are out of debt. We ran record numbers of candidates. We broke records in fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and voter contact. We re-elected our Republican legislative majorities, took back the Sixth Congressional District, and won every nonfederal statewide office without a runoff for the first time since 2016,” he said.
Shafer’s decision will affect other potential candidates, including GAGOP Second Vice Chair Brant Frost, who told The Star News he would potentially run if neither Shafer nor former State Senator Josh McKoon runs.
In December, Frost asked GAGOP insiders who they’d support if Shafer doesn’t run; Frost topped the list of ten names with 273 votes, McKoon followed with 214, and former Senator Kelly Loeffler came third, with 132. The poll had 541 participants, a four percent margin of error, and each voter was allowed to pick up to five people.
Frost’s list of potential candidates includes some people who aren’t running. Spokeswoman Caitlin O’Dea said Loeffler isn’t running, and DeKalb GOP Chair Marci McCarthy said she’s focused on running for reelection and to be First vice chair of the GAGOP.
Frost said the election will have less to do with ideology than personality.
He said, “We are all pretty conservative and united in that regard, and so personalities tend to be the biggest factor, and how people line up.”
“Yardley’s endorsements are basically a list of her friends and people who don’t like Shafer,” he said.
It’s possible that Governor Brian Kemp could get involved in the race, but a Kemp endorsement could be harmful among GAGOP delegates where he is less popular than among Georgia voters, Frost said.
“Kemp world will probably support one of the anti-Shafer candidates,” he said. “If Shafer doesn’t run, Kemp probably stays neutral.”
Frost said Yardley doesn’t have much party support and said, “Regardless of the method of voting used, no state chairman has ever been defeated in Georgia in my lifetime for reelection.”
But GAGOP National Committeeman Jason Thompson told The Star News, “According to Mrs. Yardley’s press release, she already has significant support, and I would expect there are more to come as she has not only been an outstanding district chairman but a longtime grassroots activist and leader in the Republican Party.”
He said, “She’s a serious challenger, period.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rebecca Yardley” by Rebecca Yardley.
