Just months ago, Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts was fighting the federal seizure of the county’s 2020 election records. Now, the outgoing Democrat is endorsing Republican Fulton County Commissioner Bridget Thorne, whose role in the federal investigation became part of the controversy surrounding the January raid.
Pitts recently announced his support for District 1 Commissioner Thorne over her Democratic opponent, Maggie Goldman.
In an Aug. 28 social media post, Thorne thanked Pitts for his support and shared a silent video from her campaign event that he attended on the rooftop of an Alpharetta business. In a separate video from the event that is circulating online, Pitts appears alongside Thorne and several supporters and repeatedly refers to Goldman as a “nutcase.”
In a phone interview with SaportaReport on Wednesday, Pitts doubled down on that characterization of Goldman.
“She criticizes Fulton County with no justification,” Pitts said. “We are a top-tier county and recognized as such. For someone to criticize the county just because they are running for office, I reject that, and I will speak out about that.”
Thorne and Goldman have faced each other before in an election. In 2022, Thorne narrowly defeated Goldman for the District 1 seat by a fraction of 1% of the vote.
“I think the biggest thing for me is it’s grossly inappropriate for a leader (Pitts) to talk about anybody in that way,” Goldman said on Wednesday. “It’s just a gross example of how badly we need a new chair. He does the same thing with Mo [Ivory].”
Thorne did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Pitts’ endorsement of Thorne came against the backdrop of the FBI’s January raid at the Fulton County elections hub in South Fulton, an action that the chairman vehemently criticized. Federal agents seized 650 boxes of ballots and other documents relating to the 2020 election.
Thorne was a witness in the affidavit used to seize the documents. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in February that her involvement led some of her fellow commissioners to distrust her.
Thorne was a Fulton poll worker during the 2020 election season and was identified in the affidavit as Witness 11. In the affidavit, she said in part that she believed some voting ballots were removed from voting machines and left unattended while equipment was being tested.
Following the January raid, Pitts said that he believed he was personally a target of an FBI investigation.
Pitts told SaportaReport that he is endorsing Thorne after working closely with her over the last few years, and their differing opinions on elections is an isolated issue among many issues that they agree on.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with her and teaching her about county government. She has become a solid commissioner,” Pitts said of Thorne. “She has a point of view [on elections] that I disagree with. I disagree with anyone who says that our elections are not open, fair and transparent.”
Pitts rejected the suggestion that his descriptions of Goldman as a “nutcase” and “unhinged” are inappropriate or reflect a pattern in the way he speaks about women who oppose him politically.
After losing the Democratic runoff election for commission chair to Mo Ivory in June, Pitts attributed Ivory’s support to what he called “Black girl magic.”
“Black girl magic is real. It’s not only real here, it’s real nationally,” Pitts said after the election to Fox5 Atlanta.
Pitts told SaportaReport on Wednesday that his remark was based on voting trends and was not intended to disparage Ivory.
“There has been a trend [of Black women voting for Black women]. That’s undisputed,” Pitts said. “The motivation, I can’t speak to what is in someone’s head.”
Asked whether a Black woman could simply vote for the candidate she considered the best choice regardless of the candidate’s race or gender, Pitts did not directly answer the question, instead pointing again to what he described as voting trends.
He also noted that there are three Black women candidates that he has publicly supported, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for governor, Judge Penny Brown Reynolds for secretary of state and state Rep. Tanya Miller for attorney general.
I think Mr. Pitts is confusing passion for public service and zeal for fairness with a mental condition. Too bad he doesn’t have either of these qualities.
I think Mr Pitts is Mad at the Democrats for Rejecting his nonsense. We already know he Hates jail inmates, he wants them to Die, especially when he wanted the county jail to Tumble down on them. Now he wants to be a Stinking Republican and join white supremacy. We needs to take him out in the Woods and Whip him.