Brad Raffensperger

Brad Raffensperger
Knight Foundation · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Brad Raffensperger
Birth date	18 May 1955
Birth place	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Occupation	Politician; civil engineering; computer engineering
Office	29th Secretary of State of Georgia
Term start	January 2019
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Tricia Raffensperger

Brad Raffensperger is an American politician and engineer who has served as the Secretary of State of Georgia since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously worked as a civil engineering entrepreneur and computer engineer in the Atlanta region, and served in the Georgia House of Representatives at the local government level prior to statewide office. Raffensperger gained national attention during the 2020 United States presidential election dispute involving Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Early life and education

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Raffensperger attended Kennesaw State University, where he earned a degree in civil engineering and later pursued graduate work at Georgia Institute of Technology. He studied engineering and computer science during a period when Silicon Valley-era computing advances influenced infrastructure automation, and his academic background intersects with institutions such as University of Georgia alumni networks and regional engineering societies. His early years included participation in community organizations and connections to business groups in the Atlanta metropolitan area and Cobb County, Georgia.

Professional and business career

Raffensperger founded and managed engineering and contracting firms that worked on infrastructure projects, interacting with clients such as municipal governments in Fulton County, Georgia and private developers in Gwinnett County. His companies provided services related to civil engineering design, construction oversight, and project management, linking him professionally with professional organizations like the American Society of Civil Engineers and regional trade associations. He also worked in technology-driven process improvements that connected to software vendors used by county election offices and consulting firms contracted by municipalities.

Political career

Raffensperger entered elective politics as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing a district in Cobb County, Georgia. During his legislative tenure he engaged with committees and interacted with members of the Georgia General Assembly, collaborating with officials from Atlanta, Marietta, Georgia, and neighboring jurisdictions. He ran for statewide office in the 2018 elections, competing in a GOP primary that included figures supported by state leaders and national groups aligned with the Republican Party, ultimately securing the nomination and winning the general election.

Secretary of State of Georgia

As Secretary of State of Georgia, Raffensperger oversaw state functions including business registration, professional licensing, and the administration of elections in coordination with county election boards in Fulton County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia, and rural counties such as Lowndes County, Georgia. His office worked with state entities like the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on voter-roll maintenance and with federal agencies including the Election Assistance Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice on compliance matters. Raffensperger promoted initiatives affecting election cybersecurity, partnering with organizations such as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and academic researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology.

2020 election and aftermath

Raffensperger became a central figure after the 2020 United States presidential election when Donald Trump and allies disputed results in Georgia, particularly in Fulton County, Georgia, Chatham County, Georgia, and Gwinnett County. His office certified recounts and audits including a full hand recount and a subsequent machine recount mandated under state law, interacting with officials from Georgia Secretary of State offices historically and with county election directors. A recorded call in which Donald Trump urged Raffensperger to "find" votes drew national attention and investigations by federal and state authorities, intertwining with inquiries by the Fulton County District Attorney and commentary from legal scholars at institutions like Harvard Law School and Georgetown University Law Center. The certification and post-election audits were observed by delegations from The Carter Center and election-security groups such as Brennan Center for Justice and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Political positions and public image

Raffensperger's public statements and policy actions reflect positions on election integrity, voting technology, and business regulation, aligning him at times with Republican priorities while drawing criticism from allies of Donald Trump and praise from election-administration advocates. His stance on maintaining certified election results and supporting audits attracted attention from media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News, and prompted endorsements and opposition within the Georgia Republican Party. Observers from think tanks such as the Atlantic Council and civil groups like the American Civil Liberties Union weighed in on implications for electoral norms, while academic commentators from Emory University and Georgia State University analyzed his legal and administrative choices. His public image combines elements of technocratic expertise rooted in civil engineering and computer engineering with the political dynamics of state-level partisan conflict in the early 2020s.

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Category:Secretaries of State of Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Republican Party (United States) politicians