First Rule of GOP Fight Club…
…is no one talks about GOP fight club…except when it makes the local news.
This past weekend, most counties in Georgia with a population of over 80,000 had their precinct caucuses to elect precinct officers and delegates to the County Republican Conventions to be held in March.
While there were few reports of any incidents other than unusually low turnout and an AI-generated endorsement video by Donald Trump causing shenanigans in Cobb County (we will get to that in a second), it was only the precinct caucuses in Columbia County that ended with an alleged assault and arrest.
According to Augusta Today, Linda Parnell, a longtime GOP activist, former President of the Greater Columbia County Republican Women’s Club, and current Fundraising Chair of the Columbia County Republican Party, was arrested for allegedly assaulting former Columbia County 4th District Commissioner Dewey Galeas. According to the press report, “witnesses say [the incident] was the result of long-standing animosity within the group [between the two individuals].”
The article includes a video that seems to show Parnell walking up to Galeas and throwing “lukewarm” coffee on him. She was arrested and processed through the Columbia County Jail where she was charged with “Simple Battery” before being released on a $1,100 bond.
Yahoo News reported that Parnell claimed the incident was an “accident”.
“An officer who visited Parnell later at her Evans residence reported that she had tripped and accidentally spilled the coffee. She also said that she and Galeas ‘have not gotten along.'”
You can watch the video and decide for yourself if Parnell tripped or, as the police report says after reviewing the video, “ben[t] her arm and body down in an underhand throwing motion, and thr[ew] coffee on Dewey`s chest and face.”
In Cobb County, it was shenanigans of a less caffeinated sort but still involved a video.
Sophia Farooq, House District 41 Chair and 3rd Vice President of the Cobb County Republican Assembly, Sofia Farooqin announcing her candidacy for Chair of the Cobb County Republican Party to succeed the term-limited Salleigh Grubbs, included in her presentation an endorsement video, purported to be from President Donald Trump. While there was a small disclaimer on the video, it was not immediately clear to many in attendance, including Farooq’s opponent, Dr. Fun Fong who, from the stage could only hear, but not see the video, that the video was a fake, AI-generated endorsement.
When it was his turn to speak, Fong immediately withdrew his candidacy based on the false impression that the video was a real and true endorsement by the President. It took Parliamentarian Donna Rowe interrupting Fong by stepping in to make it clear the video was a fake after shouts from the crowd attempted to notify Dr. Fong, who promptly withdrew his withdrawal. Meanwhile, Salleigh Grubbs, who was sitting immediately beside the podium did not make an effort to stop Fong’s withdrawal based on the false endorsement.
While several Cobb Republican Assembly members and Veterans for American First leaders are backing Farooq, the Alabama Cheerleader took to X to state her opposition:
Saturday’s turnout was one of the lowest in recent history, especially considering 2025 is an open-seat election for the next Cobb GOP Chair. In 2019, when I was unopposed for re-election, we had 376 attend the caucuses. A year later, 329 attended the 2020 caucuses shortly before the COVID pandemic shut down the state. With an open-seat election in 2021, 533 attended the caucuses. 2023 still saw 389 show up as Salleigh Grubbs ran for reelection, but then, only 220 attended 2024’s caucuses and only 285 were present this Saturday. Grubbs announced on Saturday that she was officially throwing her hat in the ring for First Vice-Chair of the Georgia Republican Party.
Cobb wasn’t the only county to see low attendance. Rockdale County, where Trump received 11,711 votes saw only 10 people show up. The exception seems to be embattled Catoosa County, which had its precinct caucus on Tuesday night, February 18. In a county with a population of about 68,910, varying reports have the number as low as 287 and as high as 316 Republican voters who showed up in what State Sen. Colton Moore called “A RINO Coup” to take over precinct positions and elect delegates to the County Convention.
We will see next month if the “RINOs” can restore sanity to at least one county party. Meanwhile, Cobb County delegates may be looking for a third option between now and March.
