Secretaries of State have vast amounts of power to govern elections. In 2000, Kathleen Harris was instrumental in halting the Florida recount, certifying Bush as the winner of the election. In 2004, Ken Blackwell did his best to secure Ohio to re-elect President Bush.
This year, we’ve seen many more shenanigans from Secretaries of State abusing their office to seek electoral victory. In Kansas, Kris Kobach was forced to recuse himself from a primary recount after his Republican opponent accused cried foul. And of course in Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp has done everything possible in his quest for the governorship — from disenfranchising and purging voters to even making a baseless accusation of electoral fraud towards his opponent to cover up his own incompetence in securing the election.
Many of us are sick and tired over this blatant abuse of power. But don’t get mad — get even. The Georgia Secretary of State race is going to a runoff election. Our candidate is former Rep. John Barrow — he’s not perfect [he considers himself a Blue Dog Democrat and was fairly moderate before being gerrymandered out in 2014] but he’s certainly much better than anything the Republican party can offer.
Winning Georgia runoffs are difficult for Democrats, as we depend on lower-propensity minority voters for our base. That’s why it’s important to make sure Barrow has as many resources as possible to get out his base. And whatever the result of the rigged recount, Stacey Abrams needs to let her supporters know that they can stop further suppression by electing a fair Secretary of State.
Unfortunately, Barrow doesn’t have an ActBlue page. But you can donate to him here — I’ve sent $500 his way.