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.

More Stories

The Latest

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is Joe Biden's choice for a running mate in this year's election. She is making history as the first Black woman and the first Indian American woman on a major party’s presidential ticket. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times)

Credit: Anna Moneymaker

FROM 2020

Opinion: Black and Indian girls like me can see themselves in Kamala Harris

PG A.M.: Marjorie Taylor Greene faces backlash in push to oust House Speaker

PG A.M.: Kemp renews support for Trump, GOP ticket ‘from the bottom up’

Featured

Ceudy Gutierrez reads a book to her 2-year-old son, Matias, at their home in Buford, GA, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Ceudy Gutierrez is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her three young kids following her husband’s ICE arrest earlier this fall. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

When ICE takes breadwinners, it takes a toll on families ... and on the economy

For immigrant families, brushes with ICE can result in financial precarity that could have implications for the broader economy.

‘I’m a bad kid,’ he told himself. How Georgia’s special ed program failed one child.

Parents find that it's easy to get into the GNETS program, but in some districts, difficult to leave.

‘A lot of blame, but not enough action’: Atlanta leaders lack path to fix jail

Stakeholders across Atlanta and Fulton County grapple with a complex web of issues that contribute to overcrowding, crumbling structure.