Rep. Charles Gregory gives statement about Republican party

Regarding the Cobb County Republican Convention: I like Joe Dendy. I have a tremendous amount of respect for his work ethic and everything he does to keep the Party going. I look forward to working with Joe to grow the Republican Party over the next two years.

That being said, nearly half of the Republican Party openly voted in opposition to Joe at the convention this morning, in favor of a virtually unknown competing slate that didn’t even campaign until two days before the convention.

This is because several of the more conservative wings of the Party feel frustrated over a barrage of attempts to marginalize and push them out of the Party.

Over the past 15 years, the Republican Party has been successful in Georgia because we invited people in. Shoot, half the elected Republicans in this state used to be Democrats.

That’s how you grow the party and that’s how you win National elections — by being a big tent. I don’t know when that changed. There should be room for healthy debate. Everyone should have a voice and everyone should be respected.

According to the demographics and reapportionment office at the Capitol, most of Cobb will go Democrat within 10 years. If the Republican Party is going to remain relevant and if we are to have any hope of winning National elections, we’ve got to be inclusive.

To use myself as an example, I consider myself to be a constitutionalist and liberty first Republican. I have supported only Republican candidates since I was old enough to be interested in politics; yet I, and many of my supporters, continue to be accused of being Libertarian, not Republican, by quotes from individuals in this paper, simply because I fought for a Republican candidate this past election that wasn’t the establishment candidate. This issue of exclusion extends to various Tea Party groups as well. This infighting is a real shame since we’re talking about people who agree probably 85 percent of the time.

There are fantastic individuals on all sides of this issue and it is my sincere hope to bridge these gaps and start working together. There is a lot of misunderstanding out there; I will continue working to improve communications and build relationships with individuals from all groups.

I congratulate Joe and the rest of “Team Dendy.” Running the Cobb GOP is no easy task and I know Joe and the rest of the executive committee put their heart and soul into what they do.

For that they have my deepest appreciation.