ATLANTA — One candidate for Georgia’s top elections job stood up to Donald Trump. The other debunked claims of voting fraud during a livestreamed hearing.
Made famous by his refusal to “find” more votes for Trump, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is seeking reelection against Democrat state Rep. Bee Nguyen, a voting rights advocate who says he’s no hero.
In a race defined by the last election, both candidates are telling voters that they can be trusted to protect democracy.
Raffensperger held the largest lead of any Republican on the ballot, attracting support from some Democrats after he affirmed that Joe Biden won Georgia, according to a poll last month by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Raffensperger had a 19 percentage point advantage over Nguyen — including the backing of 20% of Democrats.
Raffensperger struck a bipartisan tone last week when he was the only Republican who showed up at a candidate forum hosted by an African Methodist Episcopal church in Macon.
“I will stand for the voters of Georgia to make sure we have fair and honest elections for everyone. That is my solemn pledge,” Raffensperger told the audience of about 200 people. “I’m not looking left. I’m not looking right.”
Nguyen said Raffensperger failed to protect voters when he supported Georgia’s voting law, Senate Bill 202, which was passed last year by the majority-Republican General Assembly.
After recounts and investigations upheld Biden’s narrow win in the 2020 election, GOP legislators limited drop boxes, eliminated paperless online absentee ballot requests, required additional ID for absentee voting, and banned handing out food or water to voters in line.
“I voted against that voter suppression bill, and he has fully embraced that bill even though he says we’ve had a secure election,” Nguyen, who represents the Atlanta state House district previously held by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, said in her speech to the crowd. “I believe that our democracy in our country is made better when more people are able to participate.”
Raffensperger was a state representative from Johns Creek and CEO of a contracting and engineering design company before winning the race for secretary of state in 2018.
Then he became a household name after Trump called and urged him to change the presidential election results four days before Congress certified the election on Jan. 6, 2021.
His defiance of the president earned him scorn from Trump’s most loyal supporters and praise from those who saw him as a defender of democracy.
By the time this year’s primary arrived, Raffensperger had gained the support of a large majority of Republicans and some Democrats who crossed party lines in Georgia’s open primary to help him defeat a candidate endorsed by Trump, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice.
Nguyen’s moment in the national spotlight came in December 2020, when she fact-checked allegations of illegal voting during a House committee hearing. Nguyen recognized three of the names on a list presented by a data analyst, and she knocked on doors to talk to voters to verify that they were actually registered Georgia residents.
Nguyen went on to become a prominent voice against the new voting law passed along party lines a few months later.
A third candidate in the race, Libertarian Ted Metz, said he believes the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump based on unsubstantiated suspicions of counterfeit ballots and voting machines. State election investigators were unable to find any counterfeit ballots in batches identified by a Republican election auditor, and a judge dismissed a lawsuit based on that claim.
“There is enough controversy from that election to put doubt in the legitimacy of the election,” said Metz, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018. “Really, it’s not the point of who won or lost. It’s whether or not we have accurate voting systems.”
The secretary of state is responsible for certifying statewide elections based on counts conducted by county election offices, a role that has taken on greater importance when results are questioned by losing candidates as they were two years ago. Besides elections, the secretary of state’s office also handles business registrations, oversight of charities and professional licensing.
“I’ve grown a broad-based coalition because I’ve done my job,” Raffensperger said. “People respect that with tremendous pressure, I did not waver. I stood on the rule of the law and the Constitution.”
Nguyen said Georgians deserve better than Raffensperger, who she says met the bare minimum requirements of his job when he refused Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results.
“The premise that following the law makes you a hero shouldn’t be something that voters accept,” Nguyen said. “We’re in a state where access to voting has become more restrictive and with a sitting secretary of state who supports Senate Bill 202. Many of the lies and conspiracy theories that were amplified by Trump’s allies are within that bill.”
Voting set to begin
Tuesday: Voter registration deadline in Georgia
Oct. 17: First day of in-person early voting
Oct. 28: Last day to request an absentee ballot
Nov. 8: Election Day
