Two of the three candidates vying for the Georgia Republican Party chair seat made an appearance in Augusta on Saturday, May 13.
Rebecca Yardley and Josh McKoon attended the Richmond County Republican Party breakfast to speak to delegates before the state convention next month. A third candidate, Dennis Futch, was unable to attend.
Yardley spoke first and told attendees she is a member of the Cleveland City Council in northeast Georgia. She has also served as a precinct county chairman, county chairman, district chairman and member of the state committee. She became involved in politics at the age of 16 when she started working on a local campaign.
“In all of my years of being involved, I’ve never seen a more critical time in the history of our country and our nation than what we see right this very moment,” Yardley said. “…Right now, what we’re witnessing in this country is the criminalization or the weaponization rather of our criminal justice system for legal gain. We as Republicans cannot continue to stand for that and let that happen.”
As for how to achieve that goal, Yardley said she has a strategy that worked when she was the chair of the 9th District Republican Party.
“We know it to be true and effective because it has allowed us to be the most conservative district in the state of Georgia, and I believe if we are implementing that strategy in all of 159 counties, in 2024 in November we’ll be celebrating together,” Yardley said.
The strategy has four-parts that make a strong base, she said. First is bridging the gap and unifying the Republican Party. She said one thing she consistently sees about the party is that it is divided.
“We have got to find a way to work together in 2024, because if we don’t, we will lose,” Yardley said. “It is going to take every Republican working together…we’ve got to find a way to come together. What we have to remember is that an 80% friend is not my 20% enemy. We can have differences of opinions and differences of opinions are OK. It is what helps us become a better party in having different of opinions. It’s what helps people to think outside of their echo chambers and their boxes, to grow their opinions on things. Discussion and healthy discussion is Ok. But we’ve got to remember, we have a common goal, and that common goal is beating the Democrats. It’s not fighting with each other.”
The second part of her strategy is accountable finances and making sure the state party has a balanced budget, just like a household needs a balanced budget.
“We need a state party chairman who is capable of raising the millions of dollars we’ll need either through networking or actually making the cold, hard ask to get the money that we need to be successful,” Yardley said. “But we also have to make sure that we’re spending those dollars wisely and we’re transparent and accountable to you, our stakeholders.”
The third part of the strategy is supporting local county parties and helping them get the training needed to be successful. Yardley spoke about a chairman’s manual and precinct chairman’s manual she developed that she gives out to those who ask. She added it’s important to make sure the leaders have the tools they need heading into the 2024 presidential election.
The fourth part of the strategy is education and engaging the voter base, Yardley said. This is important because it’s what the Georgia Republican Party is supposed to do and she spoke about the party needing to do a better job when it comes to minority outreach.
“The Georgia Republican Party fails in that area,” Yardley said. “It’s election season, we walk into our minority communities, we knock on their doors, we say I would like to have your vote and then we don’t grace the doorsteps of those communities again until it’s election time. When we talk about engagement in our minority communities, we have got to be relational and intentional with what we do. Because relationships matter. When you talk about engagement, the things that are important in our minority communities are the same things that are important to you and I. Jobs, education, money, how we put out safety resources, those are the things important to those communities just like you and I.”
Yardley also spoke about the importance of youth engagement and going out to meet with young voters at places they frequent and not expecting them to come to the party. She also spoke about the need for a robust absentee ballot chase program and restoring the election integrity in Georgia.
“You have a choice when you go to Columbus in just a few short weeks,” Yardley said. “What you need to remember is the face of our state is changing. Voters aren’t coming to us into rooms like this, we have to go to them. If we implement the base strategy that I talked to you about just a moment ago, I believe that in 2024 we are going to win significantly. We are going to retain majorities with Republicans, we’re going to defeat Democrats and we’re going to send a clear and concise message that Georgia is a red state and the Democratic Party efforts in Georgia are going to be thwarted because Republicans are not complacent.”
For more information on Yardley, visit her website https://www.rebecca4gagop.com.
After Yardley, attendees heard from McKoon, a former Muscogee county chairman and former state senator (2010-2018) who ran for Georgia Secretary of State in 2018. He said the political parties have changed since he was in office and that for many years the Republican and Democratic parties disagreed on policy but did agree on some topics. But not anymore.
“As someone who served in the legislature, I can tell you the Democrats of today are not Sam Nunn and Zell Miller Democrats,” McKoon said. “They are radical. They want to take this country in a much different direction. We can’t even agree there are two sexes, male and female, and that’s where we are as a country. The success of America, the success of Georgia, the success of Richmond County depends on the success of the Republican Party. That’s why I’m in this race, it’s that important.”
The goal for McKoon is to help Republicans win the presidential election in November 2024 because if that happens, he said there will be a major re-election of Republican congressman and members of the general assembly. To achieve that goal, he has a four-part plan. The first part is unifying the Republican Party.
“That doesn’t mean happy talk or mindlessly cheering things (that people are doing)…you still want to hold people accountable and make them responsible for the decisions they are taking as elected officials,” McKoon said. “But what it does mean when we get our nominee for president, we’ve got to be behind that person 100%…we know Georgia is a Republican state, we know there’s a large center right majority, but when we’re divided, that’s when we lose these elections, that’s when we get six more years of Raphael Warnock. So, what can a state chairman do about that? The state chairman can be relentlessly positive about Georgia Republicans. There are plenty of people shooting at Republicans, I’m not going to be one of those people. I’m going to be talking about the good things the Republican party is doing the good things our Republican elected officials.”
The second step is that the chairman does not need to be involved in primary politics. For the 2024 election, McKoon said a lot of candidates will visit Georgia and the chairman should promote those people to get voters excited, but until there is a nominee that’s all the chairman should do. After a nominee is determined, then the chairman should get involved. He added that raising money is also an important part of the job.
“I have had the opportunity over several elections in supporting the Georgia Republican Foundation and other conservative candidates and causes to raise over $1 million in political money,” McKoon said. “This is a difficult skill set to develop.”
The third step is the state party being a resource for county parties and providing training to county chairs, precinct chairs and volunteers. McKoon said there are a lot of new people involved that are concerned about the state of the country, but they need the tools to be successful in helping out.
“We’ve got to rally a grassroots army,” McKoon said. “We need a grassroots machine in 2024, because while we are a Republican state, we are a competitive state…the difference maker in 2024 will be the quality of our grassroots organization and that starts with training. So, we’re going to deploy one day all day training all around the state, so you don’t have to drive to Atlanta to get that information. We’re also going to make it on demand available on our website.”
The fourth step is communication and becoming better at it. McKoon said that includes outreach to minorities and younger voters, which needs to start in June 2023, not in 2024. He said the Republican Party needs to recruit people in areas that they usually don’t and the best person to do outreach is someone from that local community.
“The person communicating matters,” McKoon said. “I’m not going to be the best spokesperson for some communities. We’ve got to give a voice and a platform to people of color, to young people and give them the opportunity to tell their story and why they think Republican ideas are the best ideas…our ideas are the right ideas, but we’ve have to make sure they are being communicated to all the people we need to grow the Georgia Republican Party.”
Like Yardley, McKoon also spoke about election integrity and setting up an election integrity unit. He said he has experience with this topic, citing work he did with Barry Fleming when it came to a bill to shorten the early voting period form 45 days to 21 days.
“Those are all things the legislature or the secretary of state can do,” McKoon said. “The Georgia Republican Party can and should lobby for additional changes, but I can’t tell you if you elected me Georgia Republican Party chair that I can just snap my fingers and make those things happen…what we can do is we can assemble a legal team that can help us with a lot of issues that we can deal with here and now.”
For more information on McKoon, visit his website, mckoonforchairman.com.
Yardley and McKoon both stated that no matter who wins, the other will be there to help the winner in what they need as the Georgia Republican Party chair. Delegates will vote on the winner at the state convention in Columbus on June 10.
Stephanie Hill is a staff writer covering Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com
