Republican activists looking to rebuke Gov. Nathan Deal at this weekend’s GOP convention in Augusta won’t be able to do it in person.
That’s because the governor is skipping his party’s convention.
The governor’s office said Deal will be at the Governor’s Mansion hosting top high school students on Friday and Saturday. They said the event was planned about a year ago.
That means Deal will sidestep what was shaping up to be an awkward meeting of the party’s faithful and the man twice elected governor under the Republican banner.
Republican activists at meetings in nine of Georgia’s 14 congressional districts passed resolutions in April expressing their disappointment with his veto of “religious liberty” legislation. The Third District’s delegates went a step further by endorsing a resolution to “censure” him. And the unrest among his critics has only intensified since he rejected “campus carry” legislation that would have legalized firearms on most parts of public college campuses.
After the vetoes, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll showed Deal’s approval rating dropped off among fellow Republicans, from 73 percent in January to 58 percent in mid-May. His support grew by a similar margin among Democrats polled.
Several resolutions to codify the GOP anger toward the governor – and send a message to Deal and lawmakers looking to replay the battle over the measures next year – are likely to reach a statewide vote during the two-day event.
It’s uncertain, though, whether each resolution will be aired out separately before the gathering of hundreds of delegates or whether they’ll be voted on en masse and without discussion. Republican leaders took the latter route last year at the convention in Athens, avoiding a potentially sharp debate over the party’s direction.
Deal, who has attended previous state GOP gatherings, steered clear of another recent high-profile Republican meeting in Georgia. He cited a scheduling conflict to pull out of a speaking slot at the RedState Gathering in Atlanta that featured a slew of Republican presidential candidates
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