State Sen. Colton Moore suspended from Republican Caucus

By
Joy Purcell
-
Sen. Colton Moore (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)

A Northwest Georgia state Senator who went on the attack against Senate colleagues over their refusal to call for a special legislative session to oust Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has himself been ousted.

Georgia’s Senate Republican Caucus on Thursday indefinitely suspended Colton Moore from its ranks.

In announcing their decision, Caucus leaders said Moore has a right to his opinion but that he “knowingly misled people across Georgia and our nation, causing unnecessary tension and hostility, while putting his Caucus colleagues and their families at risk of personal harm.”

Although the math was never on his side – it takes three-fifths of each chamber in the General Assembly to call a special session, and that would require Democratic votes – the pro-Trump senator from Dade County insisted on pushing for a special session.

Moore ramped up his pressure campaign by posting fellow senator’s phone numbers online and encouraging his supporters to call them. He allegedly recruited help from a right-wing political action committee to circulate fliers in the districts of senators who refused to sign on to his letter calling for a special session.

One of the key targets of Moore’s hostile tactics is 50th District State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia). Moore and his supporters have hounded Hatchett and his family online and in person. He allegedly encouraged at least one out-of-town MAGA supporter to show up at Hatchett’s home in Cornelia at a time when he knew Sen. Hatchett was out of town.

Trump’s response

Only three Republicans signed on to Moore’s plan, representing just 1% of the 236 members under the Gold Dome. Still, Moore persists. He continues to fundraise off the notoriety he’s gained from the media attention and Trump’s own endorsement.

When the former president learned of Moore’s efforts to remove Willis from office, he fired off a video supporting Moore on his Truth Social website.

“Highly respected Georgia State Sen. Colton Moore deserves thanks and congratulations of everyone for having the courage and conviction to fight the radical left lunatics who are so badly hurting the great state of Georgia, and frankly the USA itself,” Trump said.

However, the groundswell of grassroots support did not translate into real-world legislative support.

During a press conference on August 31, Gov. Brian Kemp clearly signaled that Moore’s efforts were futile. While delivering updates on Hurricane Idalia damage, Kemp took time out to hit back against calls to punish Willis at any cost.

“I did want to take just a few minutes to speak to some history that’s trying to repeat itself over the last few days here in Georgia,” Kemp said. “Many of you will recall that in the final weeks of 2020, I clearly and repeatedly said that I would not be calling a special session of the General Assembly to overturn the 2020 election results because such an action would have been unconstitutional. It was that simple. Fast forward to today. Nearly three years later, memories are failing fast. There have been calls by one individual in the General Assembly and that got it outside of these walls by the former president for a special session that would ignore current Georgia law and directly interfere with the proceedings of a separate but equal branch of government.”

Republican House Speaker Jon Burns penned a lengthy letter to his caucus outlining technical and logical deficiencies with Moore’s demands to “defund a duly elected district attorney of this state and her office in an attempt to interfere with the criminal justice system.”

Burns went on to say that trying to remove funding from the DA’s office would have the unintended consequence of harming the ability to prosecute serious crimes like murder, rape and gang crimes — all things that Republicans ostensibly want to see addressed.

He also noted that any attempt to remove funding for one DA would have to be taken from every district attorney in the state, adding that “targeting one specific DA in this manner certainly flaunts the idea of separation of powers, if not outright violates it.”

Moore’s defiance

Beyond the constitutionality of what he is proposing, there is the simple matter of Moore not following the rules. Caucus leaders say they informed Moore that he has violated multiple Caucus Rules on multiple occasions and was given every opportunity to “simply adhere to the Rules going forward, not to abandon his wrongheaded policy position.”

He will remain suspended until he agrees to abide by those rules.

Thursday’s decision to suspend him only impacts Moore’s ability to caucus with his fellow Senate Republicans. It does not preclude him from representing District 53, which he was elected to serve.

Moore goaded his Senate colleagues into taking such action against him earlier this month when he held a rally and press conference at the State Capitol.

“My answer to your question and my answer to my fellow Republicans is, make my day. Vote me out of the caucus,” he said on September 7.

Now that the Caucus has done that, Moore remains defiant. He appears intent on keeping the pledge he made at the rally to continue to make Republicans’ lives difficult up until the legislative session begins in January, at which point he will continue making Republicans’ lives difficult.

“I’m going to continue to call, and I’m sure other colleagues are as well, to call for a special session up until we are in session, and at that point, I will motion to amend the budget and defund Fani Willis, and we will have a roll call vote,” he said.

Stephen Fowler of GPB News and Ross Williams of Georgia Recorder contributed to this report

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