Cobb GOP releases copy of resolution censuring Kemp

Oct. 25—The Cobb GOP has made public the resolution censuring Gov. Brian Kemp it passed in a majority vote last month.

The resolution reads, in part, "We remember candidate Brian Kemp's campaign rhetoric associating himself with and agreeing with then-President Trump on illegal immigration." Since becoming governor, Kemp has "defiantly ignored illegal immigration and his related campaign pledges," it continues.

"Now, therefore be it resolved by the Cobb County Republican Party that Governor Brian Kemp be CENSURED for his failure to keep his campaign promises and meet his obligations to end illegal immigration into the state of Georgia," the resolution concludes.

The fallout was swift. Former Cobb GOP Chairman Jason Shepherd resigned from the party and the Cobb Young Republicans issued a news release condemning the vote.

Shepherd and DeAnna Harris, chair of the Cobb Young Republicans, said they did not believe a vote censuring a nonmember such as Kemp was permitted by the Cobb GOP bylaws. Both also said the resolution served to undermine a conservative governor ahead of an election year.

The resolution also criticizes Kemp's decision to accept Afghan refugees, a fact Harris singled out as "racist."

"Governor Brian Kemp has indicated that Georgia will accept thousands of unvetted Afghani citizens deported by the Taliban, such Afghani citizens having no proof they assisted the United States military in Afghanistan and/or are lawfully entitled to immigrate to the United States of America," the resolution reads.

At that same September 30th meeting, the party passed two other resolutions concerning issues that have animated Republicans this year.

One calls on Kemp to prohibit vaccine passports, while asking the Georgia Legislature to prevent businesses from requiring documentation about an individual's vaccination status. The other resolution calls for a statewide forensic audit and criminal investigation into the 2020 and January 2021 elections.

'The rules are lacking'

Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs for weeks declined to release a copy of the resolutions, saying she would only do so after sending members of the party a letter describing the meeting at which the resolutions were approved and explaining subsequent events.

On Saturday, Grubbs emailed party members copies of the resolutions and a letter accompanying them.

In that letter, Grubbs insists that the vote to censure Kemp did not violate party rules. But she acknowledged the rules should be changed so that members have an opportunity to review resolutions before they are brought forward for a vote.

Members "were displeased that they did not have these resolutions in writing in advance to review before they were presented for a vote," Grubbs wrote. "... the rules are lacking, and an amendment is needed to ensure that all members of the committee have ample time to read and digest the resolutions before a vote is taken in the future."

Cobb Young Republicans

Grubbs also addressed the party's apparent rift with the Cobb Young Republicans, a likeminded but independent organization.

In an Oct. 4 email to supporters, the Cobb Young Republicans said their news release condemning the resolution to censure had cost them party support.

"Because of our bold move to go against the county party, our funds are at risk," they wrote. "The county party is pulling their support from our group and we need your help."

Grubbs flatly denies this.

Cobb Young Republicans does not receive any funding from the Cobb GOP, she said. And an Oct. 1 request from CYR for $2,000 to fund get-out-the-vote efforts and a Christmas party had not yet been considered; in other words, neither rejected nor approved.

"At no time did ANYONE who is an officer of the CCRP allege, threaten or state in any fashion that their funds were at risk," she wrote in her letter. "In point of fact, the Cobb Young Republicans are a separate and distinct organization. ... the finances of the Cobb Young Republicans are wholly separate."

In an interview Sunday, Grubbs told the Journal she was frustrated by the "hubbub" over the resolution to censure, because it overshadowed the resolution calling for a forensic audit of the 2020 general election.

The belief among many Republicans that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump has made "election integrity" a top issue for them. That is as true in Cobb County as anywhere else, Grubbs said.

"That's what's on people's mind, they want to know our elections are secure," she said. "And I think that that got overshadowed by the censure. And that's just disappointing to me."

Grubbs concludes her letter with a call for Republican unity and a defense of the vote on the resolution censuring Kemp, if not the resolution itself.

"In this day and age, people are frustrated at being shut down even by their own party," she wrote. "I am committed to bringing all views and people together in a strategic and constructive way so that we have a winnable strategy to defeat the Democrats. The petty infighting and mudslinging must stop."