Political Insider
Political Insider

Ashley Bell picked for U.S. State Department transition team

Ashley Bell of Gainesville, shortly after switching to the Republican party in 2010. AJC file/Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com

Credit: Jim Galloway

Credit: Jim Galloway

Ashley Bell of Gainesville, shortly after switching to the Republican party in 2010. AJC file/Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com
By Jim Galloway
Nov 18, 2016

One of the more embarrassing moments  for the Georgia GOP came in 2012. Two years earlier, Chairman Sue Everhart had persuaded Ashley Bell, an African-American, a Democrat, and Hall County commissioner, to switch sides and become a Republican.

Bell was summarily defeated in the next GOP primary.

Four years later, Bell might be ready to say that his sense of justice has been restored. A White House pool report that just moved names the Donald Trump administration teams that are coordinating the presidential transition in various federal departments. It includes this line:

State Team: Former ambassador Charlie Glazier, Alex Gray, Jackie Walcott, Ashley Bell, Chris Burnham.

That's U.S. State Department, to be clear. Bell had joined the Republican National Committee effort this summer to turn out minorities for Trump.

About the Author

Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.

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