Coffee County GOP - Replubican Party

Our History
In the late 1970s a small band of honest, dedicated men and women with strong convictions and beliefs begin to meet and discuss their opposition to the way things were. For Georgia, like most of the South, one party politics had long been a way of life. There was one, and only one, political party.....the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party controlled all facets of local and state government. Coffee County was no different. Voting irregularities were commonplace and accepted. Who could vote and whose vote would be counted was controlled. Who could run for office and who would win was controlled. Nominees were handpicked by the local political boss. Elected officials were indebted to the local party and the local boss. Politics and decisions were done in back rooms. There was only one primary .... the Democratic Primary. The winner of the Primary was automatically the office winner. General elections were necessary only for national elections. Republicans and having Republican-like ideals was actively and publically discouraged, ridiculed, condemned and destined for failure. Government was of the few, by the few, and for the few.

In 1980 five honest men and women with strong convictions and beliefs organized and were officially recognized as the Coffee County Republican Party, the party of the people, by the people, and for the people. The first chairman was Marty Wilkes (later to become Reverend Wilkes). Mary Frances Wilkes became the first secretary. Thus the long struggle to bring honesty and openness to local government began.