Georgia county GOP ordered not to purge Republicans from ballot — it might do it anyway

Catoosa County Superior Court Judge Don Thompson of Georgia ruled that county GOP officials cannot implement a rule allowing them to purge unwanted Republicans from the ballot.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Greg Bluestein reported the decision on Tuesday.

It came after party leaders rejected at least two Republican candidates from standing for election.

"It's not immediately clear whether party officials will abide by the ruling. Steven Henry, a candidate for the County Commission, brought the court order on Tuesday to the Catoosa GOP when he tried to sign up and was still rebuffed," the Journal-Constitution noted.

Catoosa County GOP Chair Joanna Hildreth told Catoosa County Commissioners Jeff Long and Vanita Hullander that they could not run again because they do not qualify for the ballot.

"Party officials have deemed that you have to, you need to come to them and be qualified as a real Republican," Catoosa County Commissioner Chuck Harris warned. "Sixteen people are making the choice for 70,000 people in Catoosa County."

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"They cannot qualify without the good graces of the Catoosa Republican Party, and the Catoosa Republican Party just told them they will not get those good graces," Harris added. "I don't know what kind of special x-ray machine they've got when people walk in that they can look at you and go 'nope, you're not a Republican' and 'yes, you are a Republican,'"

Candidates must qualify for the ballot by Friday.

The ballot rejections come as Republicans complained that people were trying to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled against the effort.