District GOP censures state Rep. Carpenter over vote on immigration bill

May 6—The Georgia 14th Congressional District Republican Party at its annual convention in Rome recently censured state Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, for being the sole Republican in the state House of Representatives to vote against the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act.

That bill, which requires local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, passed both the state House and Senate and was recently signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

In March, Carpenter was censured by the Whitfield County GOP at its annual convention for his vote on that bill as well as speaking out in support last year for a 10-year intergovernmental agreement between Whitfield County, Whitfield County Schools and the city of Varnell that allows a tax allocation district to help fund high-end commercial development at Patterson Farms.

The resolution censuring Carpenter by the district Republican Party calls the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act "a modest bill" and notes that Carpenter was the only Republican in the state House to vote against it. It calls Carpenter "wildly out of touch on the illegal immigration issue with most voters in the 14th Congressional District." That district includes Whitfield and Murray counties.

"I think we ought to support our sheriffs and police officers, not penalize them for not being immigration experts," Carpenter said in March after being censured by the county GOP. "I'm also concerned as a person who represents a 52% minority district that Hispanics and other people of color could be profiled."

Carpenter does not have an opponent in the May 21 Republican primary, and no Democrat qualified to run against him in November.

"If they were so unhappy with me, if they really think I'm so out of touch with my district, they should have found someone to run against me," Carpenter said in March.