A Georgia Democrat who was recruited to run for state office in a rural district revealed on Tuesday that the state party had specific criteria for the selection of its delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He explained that as a “white male heterosexual,” he did not fit these criteria.
Jack Zibluck explained in a column published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that made the observations about the party’s delegate selection process when he was nominated to serve as an alternative delegate at the RNC during his campaign against State Representative Mike Cameron (R-Rossville) to represent Georgia’s First district. Zibluck ultimately received less than 20 percent of the vote.
“I got insights into our inevitable statewide loss when I was nominated (by whom I will never know) to be an at-large delegate to the national convention,” wrote Zibluck, adding that he quickly learned of his “outsider status” when interacting with party officials.
Zibluck wrote that Democratic leaders “circulated information” stipulating Georgia’s delegation “consist of women in the majority, a set number of African Americans, Latinos and LGBTQIA people and so on,” while he is “a white male heterosexual.”
The Democrat wrote, “When I asked a prominent African American woman who was an obvious party leader about my chances to participate more, she squinted sternly and said, ‘You are already represented. Everywhere.'”
Despite delivering “a well received speech on the need to reach out to Republicans and others whom we usually don’t reach,” Zibluck wrote that he found himself “one of the six or seven who didn’t make the cut,” and later lamented, “the disconnect between Atlanta and the northwest corner of the state became more clear” as Election Day approached.
Zibluck was recruited to run for office as part of a Democratic initiative to challenge Republicans in less competitive races, and while he acknowledged that none of those candidates won, he pointed to the slim margin by which President Joe Biden was declared the winner over President-elect Donald Trump as evidence the initiative is necessary.
“I don’t think any of the Fighting 50 actually won their races, but we made a difference,” wrote the Democrat. “I can’t help but believe if we had a little more help, we might have kept the state blue.”
Trump ultimately won Georgia with 2.6 million votes, securing about 110,000 more votes than Vice President Kamala Harris, in an election that boasted record voter turnout, with nearly 5.3 million casting a ballot in the Peach State.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jack Zibluk” by Jack Zibluk.
