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Many people doubt the electability of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for re-election in 2022.

“He’s toast,” said Jay Williams, a Georgia-based Republican strategist. “I don’t know that there’s a single elected official who would put their neck out for Brad Raffensperger right now.”

Jason Shepherd, chair of Cobb County Georgia Republican Party, says friends who are “completely uninvolved in politics” tell him “there's no way they're voting to reelect Raffensperger.”

Shepherd explained, the doubt comes into play when people, wholly uninvolved in politics, know then name of the secretary of state.  "I don’t want to say there’s zero chance, but at this point right now, it’s nearly impossible to find anyone in the party who supports the reelection of Raffensperger,” he continued.

Raffensperger is known for rejecting pressure from then President Trump. He stood firm on certifying President Biden, as the winner of the race, after a hand recount. He also defended the integrity of Georgia's 2020 election over claims of voter fraud.

Meanwhile, former President Trump is working to defeat Raffensperger. The state legislature in Georgia voted to strip some of his power. Then last week, a Republican congressman Jody Hice of Georgia announced he will challenge Raffensperger in the primary. 

Raffensperger Re-Election is a Litmus Test

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is a symbol for the “Never Trumpers” and old-school Republicans.

"Raffensperger is not just somebody running in a Republican primary,” says Sarah Longwell. Longwell is the publisher of the Bulwark blog and founder of the Republican Accountability Project. RAP is an anti-Trump group trying to promote non-MAGA Republicans. They have billboards advertising their efforts “To save the soul of the Republican Party”

Longwell backs Raffensperger. “He is being primaried by Jody Hice. She has been an election truther.”

RAP, through an umbrella organization, pledged $50 million. This donation is to back Republicans who voted to impeach Trump or supported the impeachment during campaigning.

Not everyone in the state is convinced Raffensperger’s political career is over. Some still believe he has a future regardless of the hostility within his own party.

Politico reports Raffensperger was a “conventional Republican politician whose down-ballot election in 2018 went largely unnoticed outside his own state.”

But after the Georgia Secretary of State’s widely reported conflicts with Trump, over the state’s vote count, the landscape changed. Now, Georgia is “one of the most consequential states of the election cycle. It's implications for the GOP in every state and at all levels of government may be impacted.”