He’s a candidate running to oversee Georgia elections. She’s a State Election Board member and media personality who appears on Fox News.
Together, Kelvin and Janelle King are a married couple using their platforms to criticize the secretary of state’s office — and, by extension, a likely rival in the Republican primary: Gabriel Sterling, a leading voice in defense of Georgia’s voting system.
Their alliance raises the question: Does Janelle King’s government position give a political benefit to her husband?
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
She slammed the secretary of state’s office during a State Election Board meeting Wednesday, accusing it of “gross neglect” in a case involving a March 2024 special election in the city of Oakwood. Nearly 300 voters who didn’t live in the city received ballots for its election. The losing candidate didn’t contest the results, but the board is sending a letter to the secretary of state’s office expressing its concerns.
Janelle King also criticized those who say elections are “perfect” in Georgia, which she later said includes the secretary of state’s office and nongovernmental organizations. She didn’t mention Sterling by name, and he has never said that elections are “perfect.”
“I did not attack anyone, but I’ve said this before. This is nothing new. I don’t think anyone is surprised by my comments. Even prior to him (Kelvin King) entering the race, I felt this way,” Janelle King said in an interview. “I’ve always had issues with the secretary of state. I’m not trying to help any candidate.”
For now, Janelle King said she won’t surrender her position on the State Election Board just because her husband is running for secretary of state, and she said there’s no legal obligation for her to do so. If he wins, “that’s a different discussion,” she said.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
The State Election Board reviews allegations of election misbehavior or errors, but it doesn’t oversee the secretary of state’s office. King was appointed to the board last year by Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns.
Kelvin King, who lost the Republican primary for U.S. Senate to Herschel Walker in 2022, opened his campaign by taking a shot at Sterling.
He wrote in James Magazine that he would fire state employees who “attack political candidates or supporters of either party.” He also accused unnamed government employees of “unprofessional conduct, with press conferences aimed at attacking the president and concerned citizens.”
The statements were a reference to Sterling’s most famous moment, when he stood at the steps of the Georgia Capitol and called on President Donald Trump to speak against threats to election workers in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
“Someone’s going to get hurt. Someone’s going to get killed. Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language,” Sterling said Dec. 1, 2020. “This has to stop. We need you to step up.”
Five weeks later, on Jan. 6, 2021, a pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol turned deadly.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Sterling, the chief operating officer for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office, hasn’t announced whether he will run for secretary of state. He declined to comment for this article.
Kelvin King continued to criticize Sterling this week, accusing him of “popping off at the mouth about our president.”
“The Raffensperger and the Sterling administration needs to go. They don’t have proper leadership. They don’t give guidance to the people that need it,” King said on an episode of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast that airs Monday.
Georgia law doesn’t require Janelle King to step down or recuse herself from election cases involving the secretary of state because of her husband’s candidacy.
But Martha Zoller, a conservative radio host, said King should stop criticizing the secretary of state’s office from her position on the State Election Board.
“There’s a difference between what the law says and what would be good or bad,” said Zoller, who recently interviewed the Kings on her show. “It’s a challenge of having two people with similar careers. I don’t think she should take swipes at the secretary of state.”
Besides Kelvin King, the only other candidate who has announced his intention to run is state Rep. Tim Fleming, a Republican from Covington who is the chair of a House committee tasked with proposing changes to election laws. Fleming didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.
— Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.
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