Former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Jody Hice Monday in a bid to unseat Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the 2022 Republican primary.
In a statement issued shortly after the Georgia Republican announced his candidacy, Trump said:
"Unlike the current Georgia Secretary of State, Jody leads out front with integrity,"’ adding that "Jody will stop the Fraud and get honesty into our Elections!"
Hice, a frequent guest on Newsmax TV, also is one of the state's best-known conservative members of Congress. He has represented Georgia's 10th District, located in the northeastern part of the state, since 2015.
Trump has publicly spoken out against Raffensperger after the November election, in which the secretary of state refused to support the then-president's claim that the state's 16 electoral votes had been stolen from him.
Trump also pushed Raffensperger in a phone call in early January.
Raffensperger and other Georgia election officials certified Biden’s election after conducting several recounts.
Hice has strongly supported Trump's election claims in Georgia and also called the push to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill violence "bogus."
Last week, Hice told The Covington News that he was "exploring options" regarding a race for the secretary of state seat and his decision could come "within a few days."
The congressman also said on former Rep. Doug Collins' radio show that Trump is "supportive" of his potential campaign, the newspaper reported.
Hice said in a news release in December he was not happy with Raffensperger, saying that the secretary of state "largely dismissed" the "legitimate concerns" of millions of Americans concerning the Trump-Biden election.
Trump has also been trying to recruit a potential primary opponent against Gov. Brian Kemp, who he says did not do enough about the vote count in his state, and has publicly encouraged former NFL running back Herschel Walker to run for Senate against Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia's 2022 race.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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