Fulton approves new elex chair after controversial nominee withdraws
Attorney Patrice Perkins-Hooker to chair Fulton BRE
A Republican who was nominated to oversee elections in Fulton County withdrew his name on Wednesday after backlash from Democrats.
County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts, a Democrat, had nominated Republican Lee Morris to serve as chair of the county board of registration and elections — a move that would have flipped control of the five-member panel to Republicans heading into the 2024 presidential election.
But Morris, a former county commissioner, withdrew his name Wednesday after Democrats expressed concerns about a Republican-controlled BRE overseeing elections in one of the most heavily Democratic counties in the state: over the last decade, Democratic presidential and statewide candidates have walked away with upwards of 70% of the vote in Fulton County.
Pitts began Wednesday’s commission meeting by reading an email he had received from Morris. The Republican acknowledged the concerns of many Democrats about his nomination: “I understand the belief of so many of my Democratic friends that a Democratic county ought to have a Democratic majority on the BRE,” wrote Morris. “Otherwise, the optics — as they say, aren’t good.”
Commissioners then voted to confirm Patrice Perkins-Hooker as the new BRE chair. A practicing attorney, Perkins-Hooker is a former president of the State Bar of Georgia and is currently the attorney for the Fulton BRE.
Voter registration records show that Perkins-Hooker participated in Democratic primary elections in recent years, which signals that the Democratic majority on the BRE will be preserved. But Georgia does not have party registration, so voters are allowed to request a ballot in either party’s primary.
Dozens of voters signed up to make public comments. Though Morris’ nomination had been withdrawn by the time public comments began, many used the opportunity to criticize the rushed nomination process. Others went a step further, saying that Morris shouldn’t have been nominated in the first place.
Young Democrats of Georgia Vice President Parker Short addressed Chairman Pitts directly. “To be very frank, I was shocked that a person representing the whole of Fulton County would put an extreme partisan in this role,” Short said. “You are now looking to support a nominee who does not believe that Joe Biden won the state of Georgia.”
Morris’ campaign website said that he does not believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
Perkins-Hooker’s nomination was praised by the commission’s Democratic members. Commissioner Dana Barrett praised her “exemplary background” and said that she will chair the BRE with the “utmost professional integrity.”
“That said, it is deeply troubling that we had to fight for this nomination in the first place,” Barrett said.
The two Republican commissioners, meanwhile, blasted the attacks on Morris and expressed concerns about the quick substitution, saying they wanted more time to get to know the new nominee.
“So many Democrats think that if you have an ‘R’ next to your name, you must be wicked and so many Republicans think that if there’s a ‘D’ next to your name, you must be wicked, and I’ve never thought that way,” said Commissioner Bob Ellis.
Perkins-Hooker’s first task as chair will be mending relations between Fulton County and the Secretary of State’s office. For several years now, GOP state officials have pointed to Fulton as the source for most election irregularities.
Nevertheless, Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Republicans will not be in charge of elections in the state’s biggest basket of Democratic votes.
“We won,” Commissioner Barrett said.