Conservative activists in Georgia are knocking on doors in the districts of House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) and senators who have vocally opposed the petition for a special legislative session created by Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton), according to Georgia State Freedom Caucus Director Mallory Staples, with the aim of pressuring more legislators into backing the nascent effort.
Staples announced the plans to door knock on “The John Fredericks Show” Friday, revealing activists planned to be on the ground in Burns’ district on Monday. They will also members of the Georgia Senate who are most vocal opponents of Moore’s petition for a special session, reported Staples.
“We cannot let up,” Staples told Fredericks, the publisher of The Georgia Star News, adding “[w]e have text campaigns, email campaigns, [and] Monday we’re launching door knockers in senators’ districts, in [Speaker] Jon Burns’ district.”
Soon after Moore announced his petition calling for a special session, Burns seemed to suggest it was based on “false claims,” and warned the legislature not only does not have the power to impeach Willis, but defunding her office would limit her ability to prosecute “serious offenses.” Jones has not faced a primary challenger since 2016.
Staples said activists will inform voters of their representative or senator’s inaction on the petition, telling Fredericks that activists will knock on doors to ask, “[a]re you aware that your representation… does not think that” Willis “should be investigated and defunded?”
Moore and the Georgia State Freedom Caucus are “getting support from all over the country,” Staples added. “People can’t let up, they’re going to have to break,” she said, noting that “[e]ven getting 15 signatures puts incredible pressure on the governor.”
Though uncertain of the activists’ chances at swaying legislators, Tea Party Movement co-founder Debbie Dooley told The Georgia Star News that Moore’s petition has garnered considerable support from Georgia’s grassroots.
“I’ve been active in the party since 1976,” said Dooley, noting her early, founding position in the Tea Party Movement in 2009. “2009? Much, much anger. That’s nothing like the anger I’m seeing now.”
Dooley said discontent over Willis means “you’re going to see incumbents in the legislature that will be primaried next year,” adding that “some of them will have served their last term. They will be defeated.”
Moore’s petition for a special session is “energizing the grassroots base” ahead of 2024, Dooley told The Georgia Star News. “He is a young gun, he is a fighter, he is what all elected Republican officials should strive to be.”
In an appearance on Fredericks’ show earlier this month, Moore responded to criticism of his fundraising efforts by promising to launch “tens of thousands of text messages” in the districts of Republican colleagues who oppose the special session.
“You can call me a fundraiser,” Moore mused, “but guess what, when the funds are being spent in your district, that changes the tune a little bit.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mallory Staples” and “Grassroots Activists” by Mallory Staples.
