Patrick Witt, a Republican running for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, this week said certain members of the GOP should blame themselves for what occurred in the state on November 3, 2020.
Witt, according to his Twitter profile, was a member of former President Donald Trump’s post-election legal team. He also served as a senior official in the Trump administration.
“We really have to look back over the last two decades at the disastrous decisions made by Georgia Republicans which led us up to that point. In 2005, shortly after Republicans had taken control of the state house, the state senate, and the governor’s mansion — for the first time in our state’s history — one of the first measures that they passed was a bill allowing for no-excuse absentee balloting without having to show your voter ID,” Witt said in a video he uploaded Monday to his Twitter account.
“That’s right. Georgia Republicans in both chambers, including then-State Senator Brian Kemp, thought that it would be a good idea to enshrine into law a bill that allowed any voter in the state of Georgia to cast their ballot absentee with no excuse and without voter ID. But the bill wasn’t met with universal support, and, if you can believe it, it was actually Georgia Democrats like future Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed who spoke out most strongly against it.”
Then Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, wrote an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal Constitution saying that the bill would open the door wide to voter fraud, Witt said.
“Pretty amazing to hear that from a Democrat just 15 years later,” Witt said.
“But she was right. No excuse, no voter ID absentee balloting did open the door wide to voter fraud. And while it was Democrats who would later exploit it in the 2020 election, it was Republicans who opened that door in the first place.”
Witt Campaign Manager Joe Proenza told The Georgia Star News on Tuesday that Witt’s campaign will focus on what “an incredibly Republican district” the 10th is.
“We can’t afford to just send any random Republican up there,” Proenza said.
“We have to send somebody that’s going to be strong, is going to be a leader on these issues, and has seen the mistakes that have been made before.”
U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) is currently running to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Mike Collins, who owns a Jackson-based trucking company, recently declared his candidacy for that seat.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
