ATLANTA — Several high-profile races are on the Georgia ballot this midterm election, including Secretary of State.
Republican incumbent Secretary Brad Raffensperger is running for re-election against Democratic challenger and State Rep. Bee Nguyen and Libertarian candidate Ted Metz.
The Georgia Secretary of State oversees voting, tracks annual corporate filings, grants professional licenses and oversees the state’s securities’ market.
Brad Raffensperger (R)
Brad Raffensperger has served as Georgia Secretary of State since 2019 when he succeeded Gov. Brian Kemp in the role. He served two terms as a state representative in the Georgia General Assembly from 2015-2019.
After the 2020 election, Raffensperger became known nationally for an infamous call with former President Donald Trump.
During the call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” nearly 12,000 votes following his loss. Raffensperger said the election was fair and secure. He has testified before the Jan. 6 committee and Fulton County special grand jury about the call.
Raffensperger supported the controversial Senate Bill 202 which Republicans have touted as election integrity law.
The secretary earned his civil engineering degree at Western University and his MBA at Georgia State University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in over 30 states.
Raffensperger founded Tendon Systems, a company that provides high-strength steel for construction, and owns a steel manufacturing company, according to his campaign website.
Brad and his wife, Tricia, have been married for 42 years. The couple has three children.
Campaign Platform:
- Only American citizens should be allowed to vote in American elections.
- States, not the federal government, should run elections.
- Ballot harvesting should be illegal.
- Elections should be auditable and transparent.
Bee Nguyen (D)
Bee Nguyen has served in the Georgia House since 2017 when she won a special election for House District 89, the seat formerly held by Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams.
Nguyen, became the first elected Asian American Democratic woman to serve in the Georgia General Assembly. If elected, she would be the first Asian American to serve in a statewide office position.
After the Nov. 2020 election, Nguyen fact-checked the Trump campaign’s allegations of illegal voting during a House committee hearing when she recognize several of the names. She looked at public records and spoke to voters to fact-check the list.
Nguyen’s campaign is focused on voting rights in wake of the controversial Senate Bill 202. She and other state Democrats argue that the law makes it harder for Georgians to vote, including the new absentee ballot and drop-off box regulations.
Nguyen, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, grew up in Augusta. She graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor’s and master’s in English literature. She also has a MPA in finance and management.
Nguyen founded Athena’s Warehouse, a non-profit aimed to educate and empower young women, in 2009.
Campaign Platform:
- Invest in training and resources for all 159 local election boards
- Prioritize voter education and outreach, using technology, like text messaging alert systems
- Promote language access and translation of all election materials housed within the Elections division
- Mitigate election disinformation, cybersecurity threats, and foreign interference with our elections
- Develop kiosks to securely submit vote-by-mail applications and scan ID to be placed across the state of Georgia with a focus on areas with lack of access to broadband
- Protect the election certification process by upholding the will of the people
Candidate Access:
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