2020 Election Controversy Casts Shadow Over Georgia Secretary of State Race

State secretary of state elections usually aren’t visible. People may not know what the person in that job does. It’s not the same as the federal secretary of state, who manages foreign relations. An election for this state office usually isn’t water cooler conversation.

Unless, of course, that state is Georgia, home of the hotly disputed 2020 presidential election. And a highly visible runoff for both Senate seats on Jan. 5, 2021.

It was to the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, that President Donald Trump made the Jan. 2, 2021 phone call begging him, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.”

The phone call was included in the articles of Trump’s second impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Raffensperger had also resisted pressure in the aftermath of the election and during the statewide recount, certifying Joe Biden’s victory.

He didn’t go along with the president of his country and the leader of his party. Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia stood, and its 16 electoral votes went to Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, the day that Trump supporters marched on the Capitol and things got out of hand.

Raffensperger and his deputy, Gabe Sterling, received death threats.

Brad Raffensperger and his deputy Gabe Sterling both testified before the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6.

Raffensperger was first elected in 2018, succeeding Brian Kemp, now governor, and running for reelection against Stacey Abrams.

He is now up for reelection too. He won a May 24 Republican primary victory by 52 to 34 percent over the Trump-supported Jody Hice. An estimated 75,000 Democrats crossed over to vote in the Republican primary, which Georgia allows under its open primary rules.

Raffensperger, who beat Hice by more than 200,000 votes, would have won without the Democrats, but their support allowed him to avoid a

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