Conservative media personality nominated for seat on Georgia State Board of Elections

ATLANTA – A media personality who co-founded a conservative political action committee has been named to a seat on the Georgia State Board of Elections, which is responsible for developing election rules, investigating allegations of fraud and making recommendations to state lawmakers.

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican, on Friday announced the appointment of Janelle King to the board, effective immediately. She replaces Ed Lindsey, a former Republican state lawmaker, who resigned from his position after serving on the board since 2022.

“Janelle will be a tremendous asset as an independent thinker and impartial arbiter who will put principles above politics and ensure transparency and accountability in our elections, and I look forward to her work on behalf of the people of Georgia,” Burns said in a statement . statement announcing King’s appointment.

King is the third new member appointed this year to the board, which has four Republican members and one Democrat. In January, Gov. Brian Kemp named Waffle House executive John Fervier to chair the board, and the state Senate approved the appointment of former state Sen. Rick Jeffares. Janice Johnston is the Republican Party nominee for the board, and Sara Tindall Ghazal is the Democratic Party nominee.

King and her husband, Kelvin King, co-chair of Let’s Win For America Action, a conservative political action committee. Kelvin King ran for US Senate in 2022, but lost in the Republican primary.

Janelle King previously served as deputy state director of the Georgia Republican Party, as chair of the Georgia Black Republican Council, and as a board member of the Young Republicans of Georgia. She appears on Fox 5 Atlanta’s “The Georgia Gang,” has a podcast called “The Janelle King Show” and has been a contributor to Fox News Channel.

Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director at the New Georgia Project Action Fund, which promotes progressive policies generally favored by Democrats, said in a statement that King’s appointment “will only weaken the Council’s power and effectiveness at a time when our electoral systems and Georgia voters, most importantly, we already face tremendous obstacles.”

“With this appointment, I am increasingly concerned about the future politicization of a council that should be focused on running our elections in a harmonious and accessible manner for Georgia voters, not advancing an agenda for partisan gain,” she said. she.

Despite his history as a Republican operative, King said he plans to use facts and data to make the right decisions while on the council.

“Although my conservative values ​​are still the same, when it comes to serving, I believe I have to do my job,” she said in a phone interview Friday. “So I think I’m going to show people over time that I’m fair and balanced and that I’m able to put my personal feelings aside when necessary, if that’s what it takes to make the best decision.”

The State Board of Elections has had a heightened profile since the 2020 election cycle resulted in greater polarization of rhetoric surrounding the election. Its meetings often draw a noisy crowd with strong opinions about how state elections should be conducted, and board members sometimes face criticism and questioning.

King said it wouldn’t intimidate her: “Look, I’m a black conservative. Criticism is nothing to me. I’m not worried about that at all.”

Recent meetings have elicited much public comment from Republican activists who claim that former President Donald Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. They are calling for major changes to Georgia’s elections, including replacing the state’s touch-sensitive electronic voting machines with paper ballots. marked and counted by hand.

King declined to comment Friday about her feelings about the state’s voting machines, but in a February episode of her podcast she said she had seen “no evidence of cheating in the machines” and that she was not in favor of a exclusively paper voting system. .