GOP hopefuls ghost Trump in desperate effort to hold onto key swing state

Hidden among a sea of blue campaign signs for Democrats off the side of a road in the Atlanta metro area lies a dark navy blue and green sign for a conservative candidate for governor.

The placard is for Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, whom President Donald Trump famously called after the 2020 election loss, while asking Georgia officials to “find 11,000 plus votes.”

Among the eight Republicans running for governor of Georgia in Tuesday’s primary election, Raffensperger and others, such as Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, have seemingly leaned away from Trump and the GOP in their campaign materials — in favor of branding centered around being “conservative” rather than “Republican.”

Some Democratic strategists view this type of campaign move as part of a national trend and a way for Republican candidates to distance themselves from the MAGA branch of the party and Trump himself, whose poll ratings have reached record lows.

The departure from the classic GOP branding might also appeal to more centrist voters as Democrats anticipate a blue wave come November, with the hope of flipping enough seats to take back the House — and possibly even the Senate.

“You're seeing some Republicans that are trying to separate conservative identity from the national Republican brand. For certain voters, especially suburban, college-educated, business-oriented voters, ‘conservative’ can feel values-based and familiar, while ‘Republican’ increasingly carries baggage tied to polarization, or Trump-era chaos, or national dysfunction,” said Adin Lenchner, founder of Carroll Street Campaigns, which works with Democrats.

“Georgia's particularly interesting for this because the state has become genuinely competitive, so candidates are really trying to thread that needle, so to speak, where they can still communicate ideological conservatism without fully wrapping themselves in the national GOP brand.”

The campaigns for Raffensperger and Carr did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

'A departure'

Raffensperger and Carr’s campaign websites barely make any reference to the word “Republican,” which is “signaling independence from the national party brand,” particularly as some conservatives have grown uneasy with “Trump-era chaos, election denialism, the fallout in 2020,” said Jay Satterfield, a principal with political consultancy North Shore Strategies, who calls himself a “dirt road Democrat.”

On social media, Carr has called himself the “conservative alternative for governor.”

“There's still those voters who grew up Republican, but don't necessarily want to wear that MAGA label socially, politically, any more because it's hurting them nationally,” Satterfield said.

“Emphasizing conservatism over party identity, I think it can be a way to create distance without actually breaking from the coalition.”

Despite his long political career, voters who don’t know Raffensperger might think he’s an Independent, Green Party or even a Democratic candidate based on his green color campaign branding, said Joe Bonilla, co-founder of creative strategy firm, Relentless Awareness, who works mostly for Democrats but also for Republicans and Independents.

“It's definitely a departure from what you would think a dyed in the wool conservative would have,” Bonilla said.

“If I didn't know anything about him, I would think he would be definitely much more of a Democrat.”

In swing states like Georgia, candidates can be expected to “pivot to the center” as early as possible, which could lead to more neutral branding, said Keith Donner, president of The Donner Group and a Democratic-aligned consultant for more than 30 years.

“Georgia's a purple state, especially this year, which is going to be a very large, very pronounced blue wave year, so they're just looking at the most nondescript first impression of the campaigns you can get,” Donner said.

“Unlike the Democratic waves of 2006 and 2018, Republican candidates in tough, tough districts or tough states are doing everything they can before November to pivot to the center earlier and distance themselves from Trump.”

But breaking with Trump can backfire on Republicans, as seen in Louisiana last Saturday when Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment, lost the GOP primary to a Trump-backed candidate who is headed to a runoff.

“Each of these primaries will be their own little test, and I have no doubt that Republican candidates across the country are watching them very, very closely to see what is permissible and what's a death sentence,” Lenchner said.