Amy Kremer helped organize the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally. Now she’s seeking a Georgia seat on the RNC

ATLANTA – Amy Kremer was near the White House on January 6, 2021 and told thousands of Donald Trump supporters that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.

“Hello, deplorables,” she said, embracing a label Hillary Clinton once hurled at Trump followers.

Kremer, a conservative activist from suburban Atlanta, was not part of the mob that hours later stormed the Capitol as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden as Trump’s successor. But it was Kremer’s group that secured the permit for the “Save America” ​​rally, where Trump told the crowd to “fight like hell,” and she was among the most active fundraisers in the “Stop the Steal” movement. advancing the lie that Biden’s victory was stolen.

As Trump seeks to return to the White House, Kremer is trying to win one of Georgia’s two seats on the Republican National Committee. Votes at a state party convention on Saturday are expected to show how consumed by the 2020 elections the Republican Party remains in Georgia and everywhere else.

Kremer argues that the RNC did not do enough to fight for Trump or protect others who fought for him, like the 16 Georgia Republicans who falsely claimed to be valid Trump electors in a state that Joe Biden won.

“It’s no longer enough to just defend conservatism,” Kremer told a party group on April 24. “We have to stand up and fight.

But like many other state parties, the Georgia Republican Party has fragmented. Gov. Brian Kemp created a rival fundraising and political operation after Trump attacked him for supporting the 2020 election results. The rift deepened when some party leaders backed former U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s unsuccessful challenge to Trump-backed Kemp in 2022. Neither Kemp nor his allies will attend the convention.

Some Kemp supporters dismiss the state party as irrelevant, saying Republican elected officials better reflect the views of all Georgia Republicans. But the party remains a training ground for future candidates, Kemp will only be governor until January 2027, and Georgia’s Republican-majority legislature continues to translate activists’ demands into law.

“You can’t rule it out,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Republican Party chairman in suburban Atlanta’s Cobb County who dropped out of state party affairs because of his differences with Trump supporters.

State convention delegates will choose a man and a woman for the national party’s governing body on Saturday in Columbus. It’s not as if the incumbents seeking re-election are critical of Trump. Jason Thompson and Ginger Howard trumpet their loyalty. Thompson, a lawyer, was among the lawyers who helped Trump ask the courts for recounts and favorable treatment after Election Day in 2020.

Thompson and Howard are asking the national party to return to the state party more than $1.5 million it spent defending the 16 fake Trump electors. Three were indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, while others reached immunity agreements to testify on behalf of prosecutors.

But they also warn that Georgia Republicans need experienced leaders who can marshal the resources to win the November elections, in a battleground where victories by Biden and two Democratic U.S. senators have shaken a generation of Republican control.

“There’s more to the RNC than just the election integrity part,” Thompson said on April 24. “Obviously, I think that’s the most important part, especially right now. But you also need to have someone who can raise money.”

Howard is being criticized, basically, for being insufficiently confrontational.

“Don’t mistake my sweetness for weakness. I’m a fighter,” Howard said.

Josh McKoon, a former lawmaker who was elected president last year, has tried to smooth over some conflicts. He explicitly supported Howard at the April 24 meeting, saying she is doing a “great job.”

Thompson is under fire from opponents for the work his wife and daughter did for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is despised by Trump and party activists for his defense of Georgia’s 2020 results.

“It’s the appearance of being associated with the devil himself and that’s Brad Raffensperger,” one activist told Thompson last month.

Thompson says neither his wife nor his daughter have anything to do with how Raffensperger runs the election, calling it “ridiculous” to insinuate that his family benefits from Georgia’s use of Dominion Voting Systems vote-marking devices. Many Republicans are demanding that Georgia use manually marked and counted ballots, citing distrust of the conservative-powered machines.

Thompson’s opponents include the party’s second vice chairman, David Cross, and Jason Frazier, who was denied a Republican seat on the Fulton County election board because Frazier challenged the eligibility of thousands of voters.

Cross is among a group of anti-establishment officials elected last year. Cross supported retaining First Vice Chairman Brian K. Pritchard, who was removed May 10 by the state Republican Committee after a judge found Pritchard voted illegally nine times. Many Republicans saw the findings as undermining their arguments that the state should prevent fraudulent voting.

Cross argues that current leaders do not represent what Republicans want, saying pro-Trump forces need to complete their takeover.

“One of the main issues we need to deal with right now is grassroots engagement,” Cross told party members Monday in Forsyth County, a Republican stronghold north of Atlanta. “There are a lot of people out there who are seriously demoralized.”

Frazier argues that his experience scrutinizing voter rolls is an asset the RNC needs. Although the party was slow to invest in voter awareness, it promised an electoral integrity program for 100,000 people. Thompson claims partial credit, promising there will be lawyers “everywhere” to challenge Democrats, but Frazier says that’s not enough.

“Electoral integrity needs to be one of the top issues, if not the top issue, if we are to win in future elections,” Frazier said on April 24. “It hasn’t been a top priority in the past. It has to be.”

In addition to Kremer, Shawn Cross also challenges Howard. David Cross’ wife said Monday that his lack of experience is a strength.

“More people need to stand up and not just vote. Voting is not enough,” said Shawn Cross. “The system is rigged, we all know it is rigged.”

It is this feeling of resentment and desire for confrontation that all challengers rely on.

“We never went to the Capitol,” Kremer said on April 24. “We didn’t tell people to go to the Capitol. But the point was, people wanted to do something. Then people marched to the Capitol. And we all know what has happened since then. The federal government was used as a weapon against us.”

___

Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report.