Georgia Secretary of State book to be released next week

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - On Tuesday of next week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will release a book titled “Integrity Counts.”

After the 2020 Presidential Election, Raffensperger became a household name around the country.

The man in Georgia - a republican no less - standing up to President Trump and declaring that Georgia’s elections were fair and secure.

He wrote a book about his efforts too.

“I want to really memorialize what exactly the facts were in the case so I wrote Integrity Counts. Cause at the end of the day, Integrity Counts, always has. Always will,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The question could be asked of Raffensperger’s efforts in writing a book - was his stand against Trump for show to help his cause in bookstores later?

The secretary says he won’t make much money from the deal.

“When you self publish, you’d have to sell a whole lot of books. It’s not about that,” said Raffensperger.

That election is in the past, but Raffensperger still has major elections to oversee in the future - and in the book he’s critical of a high profile performer gubernatorial candidate who very well may be on the ballot again... Stacey Abrams.

“No, there’s gonna be no conflict on that...”

Columbus State’s Dr. Jacob Holt, a political science professor, says it’s certainly legal for Raffensperger to write the book and sell it for profit. There are no ethics violations. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good look for him or the office.

“In terms of perception or how it looks, it’s probably not the best look when you have an elected official, person in charge of elections, criticizing a potential candidate who’s elections they would oversee,” said Dr. Jacob Holt, professor at Columbus State University.

Raffensperger says his intentions are pure - to clear up disinformation.

“When people said that there were 10,000 dead people that voted and we found that there’s less than five, things like that,” said Raffensperger. “Just really knock down all the rumors with the rumor whack-a-mole.”

Dr. Holt adds that the secretary’s actions against Trump in 2020 would be mercilessly used against him if he ran for office in the future - so likely no benefit there - and we’ll have to wait and see the specifics of what the book actually says next week.

“What I’ve shown is I’m going to be an impartial overseer of elections in the State of Georgia. I don’t look left,” said Raffensperger. “I don’t look right as Secretary of State. I look right down the line... the line of integrity...”

Abrams hasn’t announced another run for governor - but many believe it will happen.

“Integrity Counts” is 240 pages and is available for pre-sale for $25.

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