Gov. Kemp and Secretary of State Raffensperger react to Trump’s primary win

Trump won Georgia’s primary on Tuesday, and was set to secure the GOP nomination by the end of the night.
Published: Mar. 12, 2024 at 11:21 PM EDT

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The threats were constant, terrifying and mainly directed towards Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the wake of the 2020 election. Raffensperger famously refused to overturn the results of the presidential race.

After Donald Trump lost Georgia that year – and with it, his position in the White House – no one drew more criticism than Raffensperger. A call between the two men, where Trump asked the secretary to “find” him the exact winning margin of votes in the state, became the basis for Trump’s criminal indictment in Georgia for election interference.

Safe to say, no one would have more reason to be trepidatious about a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden than Raffensperger, but when asked Tuesday during Georgia’s presidential preference primary, Raffensperger didn’t let on.

“It is what it is,” he said bluntly, shrugging. “Both political camps are in their corners and it’s going to be a very contested election, so I expect a big turnout in November 2024.”

Raffensperger said his team was preparing for as many as 5 to 6 million voters in the upcoming general election, and they have another statewide primary to prepare for in May.

Raffensperger typically shies away from striking back against Trump’s attacks. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has been more vocal about Trump’s assertions about the 2020 vote, but still said Tuesday that he’d support the GOP nominee for president even if it was Trump.

“Well I think he’d be better than Joe Biden, it’s as simple as that,” said Kemp. “I’ve said I’m going to support the nominee. I voted Friday in the Republican presidential preference primary, and I’ve said for a long time now that I’d support the nominee.”

Trump easily soared to the Republican victory in Georgia on Tuesday as did President Biden. The results are far from surprising, given that the two rivals had the only two viable candidacies after Super Tuesday voting.