Jody Hice, a Republican congressman, announced on Monday a dispute against Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who refused to nullify the November 3 state election results, and former President Donald J. Trump immediately endorsed the new candidate.
Trump’s endorsement of Hice is the most prominent effort the former president and his advisers have made to try to punish the elected officials they believe crossed with Trump. Raffensperger, a Republican, is among Trump’s top targets, along with state governor Brian Kemp.
In a statement released shortly after Mr. Hice announced his candidacy, Mr. Trump praised him as “one of our most outstanding congressmen” and alluded to his own unfounded allegations of electoral fraud, which, he said, deprived him of victory in the state . “Unlike the current Georgian Secretary of State, Jody leads with integrity,” said Trump, adding, “Jody will prevent fraud and put honesty in our elections! ”
Raffensperger and other Georgia election officials certified President Biden’s victory after several recounts and said the results were fair and accurate.
Hice, who represents Georgia’s 10th congressional district, which extends south and east of Atlanta, is loyal to Trump, who in January condemned the former president’s second impeachment in the House as “wrong” and with the goal of “scoring cheap political points “. In the weeks after the November election, he supported Trump’s false allegations of electoral fraud, including a challenge to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the results in states that Trump lost.
Mr. Hice also served at the House Freedom Caucus with former Representative Mark Meadows, Trump’s fourth and final chief of staff.
While seeking to retain control of the Republican Party, Trump is determined to remain a kingmaker for the electoral elections, while seeking retaliation against those he believes have betrayed him. So far, he has endorsed just one other candidate running against someone who is personally offended: Max Miller, a former White House adviser, who is currently challenging Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican who represents Ohio’s 6th congressional district. Mr. Gonzalez was one of 10 members of the House who voted to impeach Mr. Trump.
Hice’s challenge – against a Trump enemy in a critical state – will be a more visible test of Trump’s political influence among Republicans.
The action to support Hice against the acting secretary of state is also extraordinary, as Raffensperger confirmed that his office is investigating Trump’s attempts to influence the election, including the phone call the former president made to him. Mr. Trump is also being investigated by prosecutors in Fulton County to see if he and others tried to unduly influence the election.
Raffensperger was receiving a now infamous call in early January, in which Trump made baseless allegations of widespread wrongdoing and asked the Secretary of State to “find” enough votes to reverse President Biden’s victory.
“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won in the state,” said Trump during the conference call.
Mr. Raffensperger repeatedly told him that his data was wrong. “We need to stick to our numbers,” said Raffensperger. “We believe that our numbers are right.”
Mr Trump, when he had a Twitter feed, repeatedly attacked Mr Raffensperger for failing to comply with his demands.