Words of unity, enthusiasm and winning filled the air at the Epworth Community Club Saturday when the Fannin County Republican Party held a Fall Festival that included a full slate of speakers.
David Ralston rallied the crowd, telling those gathered the time has come for the party to “get enthusiastic...look through the windshield and not through the rear view mirror.”
Ralston, District 7 representative and Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, told of how Republicans across the state are discouraged after the last election. They keep looking back. He said it’s time to “look ahead.”
Calling for party unity, Ralston said, “It’s time we turn our guns on the other party and not keep them turned on members of our own party.”
The House Speaker briefly spoke of the Election Integrity bill passed in the last session legislature. The goal of the law is to make sure “every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is thrown out.”
David Belle Isle, who is running for Secretary of State, also addressed election integrity, assuring the crowd he is “running to save elections.”
He said the current Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, “certified the wrong result for Georgia (in 2020) – Trump won Georgia.”
Belle Isle described in detail how Raffensperger’s absentee ballot system was illegal and how the way those ballots were counted under his rules changed election results for both the presidency and U.S. Senate.
Belle Isle said his goal is “to win back trust in the State of Georgia.”
An attorney, he said, “I’m not afraid to be sued and I’m not afraid of Stacey Abrams.”
Butch Miller, who is running for state Senate, told of his part in the Election Integrity bill.
He said when the current lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, stepped aside and he became presiding officer, the first bill he called for a vote was that bill.
Miller said his approach to government is the same as his approach to running his own business; what is important is “doing what you’ve got to do to get the job done.”
Michael Boggus, who is running for U.S. Congress from the Ninth Congressional District, said his goal is to “take the power away from the government and give it back to the people.” The time has come to “get rid of the politicians.”
He challenged voters, telling people, “instead of complaining on the computer...get out there...get involved.”
Fannin County Sheriff Dane Kirby echoed a similar message, “we’ve got to out vote them.”
Kirby drove the message home with a warning of what could lie ahead if Republicans don’t hold fast to American values. “There could come a time when we’re not free anymore...the tables could turn.”
The sheriff warned of how law enforcement powers could be taken away. This mirrored comments by Ralston who told how Virginia passed many similar laws to what has been accomplished in Georgia with individual rights, gun rights, and a reduction in the state income tax, only to see those laws rolled back when party power changed from Republican to Democrat.
Kirby backed up his concerns with a description of the change in population in Fannin County.
“For the most part, things remain calm,” he said. The crime rate is not up, but the call volume is for deputies. He said this is because his office is “dealing with things we shouldn’t have to deal with.”
This situation has been brought on by the influx of people into the county, primarily by those visiting on weekends and those buying homes to turn them into rental properties.
Of this influx, Kirby warned, “They don’t all believe the Second Amendment, they don’t all believe a fetus is alive.” A lack of such values could eventually lead to law enforcement powers being taken away.
Kirby stressed the importance of working hard for the values that Fannin County residents believe in and the importance of voting.
Superior Court Judge John Worcester told the crowd, “when people get involved, good things happen.”