The stakes in the 2020 Election for Cobb County have never been higher. While we tend to focus nationally, with the Presidential race capturing most of the attention of the press and electorate, this year, we must not neglect our local races.

Our entire county government it at stake on Nov. 3. In 2018, Democrats captured the majority of the vote countywide, with Stacey Abrams receiving 30,000 more votes than Brian Kemp in Cobb County. With most of our countywide Republican officials on the ballot, 2020 is a “make-it, or break-it point” for the GOP.

For decades, we have enjoyed good, conservative, Republican governance in Cobb. It has allowed our schools to become some of the best in not just our state, but our nation. It has kept our taxes the lowest in the metro area and has provided safety and public service for our residents.

That all can change Nov. 3.

As I told the Marietta Daily Journal, if Chairman Mike Boyce and Republican Fitz Johnson are defeated, then the Democrats control the Cobb County Board of Commissioners and they control the law enforcement in Cobb County. If they take the sheriff’s (office), they have the whole thing.

We have seen where the Democratic Party has gone when it comes to law enforcement, preferring to champion criminals over cops, chaos over safety, and seem to want to define lawlessness as a Constitutionally protected right.

Cobb Democrats want to try to say they are different, and in his response to my warnings, Democratic David Wilkerson (D-Powder Springs), Chair of the Cobb Legislative Delegation had only one way to respond…in typical Democratic fashion, he lied.   

“You will not hear anybody in our delegation talk about defunding the police. That is typical Trumpism where they’re going to try to scare people into voting for them when they’ve done such a poor job. We have been nothing but supportive of law enforcement,” Wilkerson claimed.

While Cobb’s Democrats in the House may have enough disciple not to use the magic words “defund the police,” their actions speak louder than their words when everyone one of them voted against giving law enforcement in Georgia more tools to go after human traffickers when they voted against SB 394.

Then Wilkerson makes his most bizarre and false claim in the way of a personal attack, “They can’t forget, just a couple of months ago Jason Shepherd was doing the best he could to get rid of Mike Boyce because Mike Boyce was raising taxes. They raised taxes and continue to raise taxes.”

That claim is so ridiculous and odd that how can Wilkerson be trusted with ANYTHING he told the MDJ.

It is clear what the Democrat’s end game is, take control of the county commission, take control of the school board, keep control of the legislative delegation so they can gerrymander the GOP out of existence in Cobb for the next decade and beyond.

Friends, in Cobb County, this IS the MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION EVER!

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

In the legal profession, we call this “hearsay” evidence, and it’s not admissible.

In music, we say, “I heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another you’ve been messing around...”

In journalism, the standard is, “if it makes Trump look bad...PRINT IT!”

Of course I'm talking about the recent article in The Atlantic claiming President Trump disparaged the military dead during a 2018 visit to the American Cemetery in Verdun to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

The article sent shockwaves as several anonymous sources claimed that the President called those who died in the war "suckers" and "losers."

Democrats and "NeverTrump" Republicans were quick to jump on the bandwagon, citing Trump's statements in 2016 regarding John McCain, a former Vietnam POW, "I like people who weren't captured" as proof he would have made those remarks.

Of course, the reason for Trump's snarky retort in 2016 was McCain's constant attacks on Trump and was aimed at the fact that McCain constantly used his wartime record and status as a POW as a shield to deflect criticism for his loathsome and divisive actions throughout his political career, and not a statement about POWs in general. But back to The Atlantic article.

While the anonymous sources also spoke to FoxNews, which validated the sources as being those inside the Administration, FoxNews also delve into John Bolton's highly critical new book about his tenure in the Trump White House, The Room Where it Happened, which covered the trip highlighted in The Atlantic article and painted a very different picture of events:

Bolton even went on FoxNews to go on record that the statements made in The Atlantic article were "simply false."

Since then, there have been renewed calls for the sources to "come forward."

While there should be protections for whistleblowers, there is no way for the American people to judge the credibility of the sources or determine if there is not a certain conflict of interest. Maybe they were fired and are making this up for revenge?

Also, why is a two year old story coming to light now?

When this "bombshell" finally fizzles out, we can expect the media to concoct something else to dump on Trump before November 3. At this point, however, the media's credibility is shot and the only voters who will be influenced are the ones who are already willing to believe anything they hear from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another that Trump has been messing around.

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

A few weeks ago I touched on State Representative Erica Thomas's ethics woes. After filing a complaint against her in August 2019, a preliminary hearing was finally heard on the complaint earlier this month.

Rep. Thomas, who also serves as the Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, a position her fellow Democrats in the House, like Mary Frances Williams, Michael Smith, Erick Allen, and others elected her to, despite her long history of ethical lapses and controversies, failed too respond to the charges in the complaint and did not show or send a representative to the hearing showing her utter contempt for the legal process, despite the fact she wants to make laws that others must live under and abide by.

The silence from the Democrats is deafening! So is the media's lack of scrutiny of a high ranking member of the Democratic leadership. Trust me that if Thomas was a Republican, the issue would be front page news across Georgia.

Every Democratic incumbent and candidate should be forced to go on record as to whether they will vote to re-elect Erica Thomas the Vice-Chair of their caucus. Of course, Minority Leader Bob Trammel, who would be the next Speaker of the House if the Democrats took control in November, could always ask for her resignation.

Of course, we haven't heard a peep out of him.

It is typical Democratic hypocrisy...they want us to live under rules they have no intention of following themselves and then blame Republicans, calling us "deplorable" for wanting to enforce and uphold the laws they pass.

As for Erica Thomas, the matter has been referred to the Georgia Attorney General's Office for further prosecution.

Lawlessness has become the theme and campaign rallying point for the Democrats in the 2020 election. We see this in the burning cities run by them while their accomplices in the media blame Donald Trump when he does something, then blames him when he respects the wishes of the Democratic Mayors and Governors to let them (not) handle it as not doing enough.

A CNN reporter even called the recent riots in Wisconsin "mostly peaceful" as he stood in front of burning buildings.

Only a Democrat in 2020 would call acts of arson "a mostly peaceful protest".

"Baghdad Bob", Saddam's propaganda minister who claimed there were no U.S. troops in Iraq as the tanks rolled by in the background wasn't as brazen as the modern U.S. media is in denying and covering up the truth.

In South Cobb, fliers distributed this week re-enforce the anti-law-and-order, anti-Public Safety message of the progressives running the Democratic Party today:

Mijente, which means "My People", is the group behind the fliers which say "Trump Out" all over them.

But their message is one demanding an end to bail and pre-trial detention. What is to stop someone from simply not showing up for trial, or having the opportunity to threaten, beat, or kill the witnesses who would be testifying against them? The left claims to be for victims, but, as we see with Joe Biden's frequent inappropriate touching, they will look the other way when it comes to one them, while they will decry and condemn a conservative, like Brett Kavanaugh, on nothing more than a rumor or unsubstantiated accusation.

Once again, where is the condemnation of Erica Thomas in the face of a mountain of evidence?

In Georgia, Democrats used to be different. As Democratic Governor and Senator Zell Miller used to say, he didn't leave the Party, it left him.

Now Georgia Democrats model their national counterparts on the radical left. In the waning days of the 2020 legislative session, every Democrat, including every Democrat in Cobb, voted against SB 394, a bill that gave the Attorney General's Office more authority to combat human trafficking, elder exploitation, and Medicaid fraud.

In today's Democratic Party, allowing law enforcement to have more tools to go after people who buy and sell children just doesn't play to their base.

Over 100 years ago, Mark Twain quipped, "I suppose all Democrats are on sociable terms with the devil."

He may have never been so right then as he would have been in 2020!

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

This past week Cobb County Republican Party appointee to the Cobb County Board of Elections and Co-General Counsel Neera Bahl accepted a judicial appointment from Governor Brian Kemp and was sworn in last week, requiring her to submit her resignation from both positions.

I personally want to publicly thank Neera for her hard work, dedication, and service to the Cobb County Republican Party and know Georgia is getting a fantastic judge!

However, with the election being so close, now is not the time to place a novice in the position, so I have asked Patrick Gartland to once again serve as our representative on the Board of Elections, an obligation he willing accepted.

A Vietnam War veteran, Pat Gartland previously served on the Cobb County Board of Elections a decade ago. The former Chairman and Executive Director of the Georgia Christian Coalition, Gartland serves as Honorary Chaplain of the Cobb County Republican Party. In 2000, Campaign and Elections Magazine named him one of their "Rising Stars of Politics," an honor the magazine also gave to Ralph Reed, Laura Ingraham, and others.

Additionally, we recently lost another Cobb Republican elected official when Governor Kemp nominated and the legislature confirmed Cobb Clerk of the State Court Angie Davis to serve as the Clerk of the new State Business Court.

Angie Davis and her Chief Deputy, Robin Bishop, were unopposed in both the Republican Primary and the General Election, so Davis's resignation required the Cobb County Republican Party to open up qualifying again for a Special Republican Primary to be held on the same day as the General Election, Tuesday, November 3.

Robin Bishop, who as Chief Deputy was sworn in as the Clerk upon Davis's resignation, was the only candidate to qualify for the open position, which means she will begin her own four year term in January with her new Chief Deputy Rochelle Taylor.

Congratulations to all of our great Cobb County Republicans who show that Cobb County continues to lead the way in the State of Georgia.

Here in Cobb, we will continue to raise fantastic, conservative leaders that Governor Kemp, and any future Republican governors, would be proud to place in key positions of state leadership.

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

About a week and a half ago, I virtually attended a preliminary hearing held by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission regarding an ethics complaint I had filed last year against State Representative Erica Thomas, Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, outlining numerous abuses and violations of the Ethics in Government Act.

We all remember what happened last June when Rep. Thomas falsely claimed she had been a victim of racial animosity at a Publix supermarket in her district. The incident gained national attention as an example of the type of hostile environment towards minorities President Trump was supposedly creating in America and the left was all too eager to buy into Thomas’s hate hoax. Thomas, for her part, wasted no time getting out the fundraising emails begging for money to continue her fight against the obviously racist, anti-immigrant, Trump supporter who not only “made her fear for her life,” but also told her to “go back to where she came from.”

A couple of days (and press conferences) later, the man who spoke up to her because she had too many items in the express checkout line came forward. Instead of the towering ogre Thomas had described, the man was shorter than her, an immigrant from Cuba, and a Democrat. Video showed it was Thomas who actually told the Cuban-American to “go back to where you came from.”

Whoops.

However, I had wondered what kind of campaign bump the incident had given Thomas, so, once her June 30 disclosure was filed, I pulled it up on the Commission’s webpage.

Shockingly, according to her campaign finance disclosure, she had raised NOTHING. And when I say nothing, she reported she had not raised any funds at all during the reporting period. What is more, she showed no expenses and had no money in her campaign account.

Digging deeper, I found fundraisers she had with the invitations posted on her Facebook page, including a joint fundraiser with House Minority Whip William Boddie on January 10, 2019, just before the start of the 2019 Legislative Session where Thomas asked donors to contribute up to $2,600 to host and at least $101 to attend, but nothing was reported. Trying to go back to other disclosures, I found a number of them had not even been filed where she skipped reporting periods completely!

Nearly a year after filing the complaint, an investigation by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission detailed how Thomas allegedly has repeatedly failed to file campaign disclosure reports, repeatedly failed to detail her contributions and expenditures by failing to report a single dollar in contributions or expenditures on reports she has filed, and repeatedly failed to file personal financial disclosure statements.

This is even though, as the Commission's staff attorney shows in her report below, the filed campaign disclosures of other PACs and elected officials show Thomas has received at least $16,300.

In showing her contempt for the the Commission, Erica Thomas did not respond to the allegations, did not show up for the hearing, nor did she send a representative. The Commissioners voted to continue with the investigation after the preliminary hearing.

This is public corruption by a high-ranking member of the leadership of the Georgia House of Representatives and shame on Georgia’s and Cobb County’s Democrats for remaining silent in support.

Shameful.

Thomas is being challenged in the November Election by businessman, West Point graduate, and retired US Army Colonel Jim Hickey. Voters will have a real choice between a leader with the highest integrity in Col. Hickey or continue to be represented by someone who hides who is financing their campaign and what those campaign dollars are being spent on.

Just like her #HateHoax in June 2019, Erica Thomas is being blatantly dishonest and is deceiving her constituents and the people of Georgia.

It is hard to tell if her violations rise to the level of criminal activity, or if she is using campaign funds to support herself personally, but a full investigation may show just that.

It is time Erica Thomas stop her deceptions and left public office. Clearly, she belongs in no position of trust and it is time the Democrats, who always seem to find excuses and turn a blind eye to their own corruption, stood up against Thomas too. But the continued silence of the House Democratic Caucus screams their support for Thomas.

Not a single Cobb County Democrat has condemned Thomas's repeated and continuing pattern of deception after deception, but continue to support her as a leader of their Party.

Think about that for a minute when people say we need to put the Democrats in charge of our county, state, and nation.

Of course, this is the same Democratic Party, as I pointed out last week, that openly fantasized about Cobb Republicans dying of COVID-19, so we probably shouldn't hold our breath waiting for them to speak out.

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

A little more than a week ago, the Cobb County Republican Party held its first in-person breakfast since March hosting Congressman Doug Collins. The breakfast was much different than the previous breakfasts as the pandemic required us to take several precautions:

1. We limited the breakfast to only those who pre-purchased tickets.
2. We set the number of tickets at 60, less than half the number of attendees we normally have at the breakfast.
3. We set registration up outside the building and took temperatures at the door.
4. Everyone was instructed to wear a mask unless they were eating or drinking or were at least social-distanced 6 feet away.
5. All servers wore masks and gloves.
6. Table seating was cut from eight to five seats per table.
7. Hand sanitizer sponsored by Karen Handel was placed at each table.

These instructions were also restated by me from the podium when the breakfast was graveled to order.

To allow others to participate remotely, we also live-streamed the breakfast over our Facebook page. As of today, that video broadcast has reached nearly 3,000 people.

Shortly after the breakfast concluded, the Chair of the Cobb County Democratic Party posted on her Facebook wall:

While her initial juvenile comment was snarky and easily dismissed, the unhinged responses that unfolded in the comments afterward show the gross levels of depravity that exist among the Democratic activists and leadership as the comments turned towards openly fantasizing about the deaths of Karen Handel and members of the Cobb GOP from COVID-19.

In her unwinding death-wish fantasy, the Cobb Democratic Chair noted that it was “Darwin’s Theory in action. You know, science.”

Shanita Wilkerson Bryant, a Democratic candidate for Peach County Commissioner joined in the hate-fest wishing, “Natural selection is going to have a field day…”

It didn’t stop there as the Cobb Democratic Party doubled down, taking to their official Facebook page to post: “Two days after Herman Cain passes away from COVID, the Cobb GOP hosts a super-spreader event. They do not care. Vote Democrat, November 3 up and down the ballot. Your very life depends on it.”

As the Democratic Party, both in Cobb and across the nation, continues to stand behind the mob protests, whether supporting the radical and Marxist Black Lives Matter organization, the “Defund the Police” movement, CHAZ, and any number of protests, street occupations, or riots where social-distancing and COVID are deemed much less of a concern that the cause being fought, they jump on any opportunity to condemn and indict any gathering of regular Americans.

Even the Cobb Democrats have posted photos proudly showing fists raised as individuals stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and without masks, against the perceived “injustices” of the day.

But this left-winged hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed. Writing on Politico.com, Tina Nguyen noted in her article, “Conservatives charge liberals with social-distancing hypocrisy,” that conservatives have observed the do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do attitude of the left.

Quoting Stephen L. Miller, a conservative media critic and contributor to The Spectator, Nguyen writes, “Conservatives ‘are upset at the political leaders who think protesting and mass gatherings are more important suddenly than being able to feed your family or keep your business open.’”

More so, while the Cobb Democrats were eager to invoke the name of the recently deceased Herman Cain while openly hoping the Cobb Republicans would follow his path, nothing was said about the packed pews at the funeral for Cong. John Lewis. While the Cobb Democrats chided the Cobb GOP about the few Members of Congress who had recently been quarantined due to testing positive for COVID while wondering if Cong. Doug Collins was now spreading it across Cobb during the hour and half breakfast, nothing was said about the Members of Congress who sat through the four hour long service for John Lewis. 

As Boris Epshteyn, the strategic advisor for coalitions on the Trump 2020 campaign noted in Newsweek, “Viruses don't discriminate based on politics, but many Democratic governors and mayors sure seem to do so.”

It would seem that the sentiment has also filtered down to the Democratic Party leaders and activists as well, but they look at COVID with hope in their eyes…hope that it will strike down their enemies like some judgment from whatever Higher Power they don’t believe in. Hoping for illness and death to their political rivals is nothing new among the left. We already see the resurrection of the Italian Brown shirts in ANTIFA, now the leadership supported para-military wing of the Democratic Party, so why should it be any shock that the leader of the Cobb Democratic Party would fantasize about Karen Handel and the members of the Cobb GOP becoming sick and dying? Of course, she can do that because there are no consequences for left-winged hate speech.

In 2017, former Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes barely made news when he replied to a tweet hoping a photo of Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, and Paul Ryan in the Oval Office with President Trump would be used alongside their obits. Contrast that to the dozens of victims of the leftist cancel-culture who have been drummed out of the jobs, their companies, schools, and careers for saying, tweeting, or posting far less.

While the leadership of the Democratic Party here in Cobb were open and upfront in their ill-wishes, what is even more disappointing is the lack of condemnation from the Cobb’s Democratic elected officials or candidates. Throughout this year, we are told by the left and their allies in the media that “silence equals consent.” The slogan is supposed to indict anyone who does not agree with their version of society’s ills and how those ills are to be corrected, usually by implementing Socialism. As they see it, if you are silent about defunding the police, then you obviously support illegal police brutality.

However, to the Cobb’s Democratic elected officials, apparently silence does not mean they wish illness and death on the GOP, but shouldn’t they be held to the same standard they claim for others? Of course, maybe they do share their leadership’s sentiments and they are silent in support. We will never know because, unlike Republicans, the media will never question them on it for fear of showing any division in the Democratic Party.

For a political party that is so offended by everything they are even horrified by “microaggressions,” to make such a bold and callused statement, especially after the death of Herman Cain, who was high risk because of underlying health issues, and many others shows a complete lack of awareness or introspection by the Democratic Party Chair resulting in her posting and comments that looked more like mad, spittle-flecked rage than anything like sound or rational political discourse. Then doubling down by claiming that voters need to vote Democratic in November because “their very lives depend on it” shows a dangerous level of unhinged rage that could inflame real violence, which the left constantly accuse Donald Trump and Republicans of doing.

It is the type of rhetoric that lead to the near fatal shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise during an attack that our Congressman, Barry Loudermilk, also came under fire from the deranged left-winged gunman.

In the end, the Cobb (and national) Democrats have forgotten the lesson of the fable about the boy who cried “wolf.” The first few times the boy cried “wolf,” the town people came rushing to aid him. When the people realized it was a hoax, they finally wised-up refused to come when the boy called.

Voters have wised-up to the Democrats and their hyperventilating and shrieking that the “end is nigh” if Republicans win. When Democrats are losing, they always revert to their “vote or die” rhetoric trying to scare voters to the polls. However, none of the terrible predictions about Donald Trump that the Democrats have espoused over the last four years have come to pass.

Americans, at least Americans who do not live in cities and states run by Democrats, are freer in Donald Trump’s America and more prosperous. And even those hit the hardest by the pandemic induced recession will see Donald Trump as the candidate best suited to bring America back to prosperity and opportunity.

All the Democrats can hope for is their fantasies about their opponents coming true. Meanwhile, Republicans will hope for a brighter future for all when this pandemic is finally over, a brighter future even for Democrats. 

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

Last week we lost a great champion of conservatism with the passing of Herman Cain. Herman rose from humble beginnings. He often said his family wasn't poor, they were "po'" which was worse than poor, but they were happy.

Herman's father was the chauffeur for Coca-Cola CEO Robert Woodruff who saw the potential of Herman and helped him attend Morehouse College.

Cain went on to first distinguish himself in business and, eventually, in politics, for a time being the front runner in the polls for the Republican nomination for President in 2012.

Cain died July 30 from complications of COVID-19. Cain was high risk due to recent battles with cancer.

The Cobb County Republican Party produced a tribute video which we premiered on Facebook and showed at our breakfast. If you haven't seen it, you can watch it above.

Rest in peace Herman Cain. Your life made a difference in ours. The Cobb County Republican Party offers its condolences and shares in the grief with your family.

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

As early voting continues for the 2020 Primary runoff, I received a text from one of our Cobb GOP Members who thought he had received the wrong ballot. He does not live in Commission Post 2 and, when he requested a Republican runoff absentee ballot, he received the non-partisan ballot instead.

I reminded him (like I'm reminding you now), that for most of us in Cobb, we do not have a Republican runoff, just the non-partisan runoff for the two judicial posts.

Everyone in the County can, and should, vote in the judicial runoffs for Superior Court and State Court.

However, only those in Commission District Post 2 will receive a Republican runoff ballot.

Remember, turnout is expected to be a tiny fraction of what it was in June and there should be no waiting.

Please encourage your friends and family to get out to vote!

You can use the link above to request an absentee ballot if you want to vote by mail, but don't be surprised if you don't like in Post 2 when you receive a non-partisan ballot instead!

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party

Early voting has begun for the 2020 Primary runoff!

Everyone in the County can, and should vote in the judicial runoffs for Superior Court and State Court.

For those in Commission District Post 2, there is also a Republican runoff to see who will success Bob Ott.

Turnout is expected to be a tiny fraction of what it was in June and there should be no waiting.

Please encourage your friends and family to get out to vote!

Yours in Freedom,

Jason Shepherd

Chairman, Cobb County Republican Party