Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Mariah Parker called for U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Greensboro Republican who represents most of Athens, to be removed from office, and said she is forming an exploratory committee to perhaps run for the seat herself.
Hice led the Republican congressmen who challenged Georgia’s legitimate Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday—objections that led to a mob of Donald Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol.
Parker’s statement:
As an elected official, it’s my job to protect the rights of everyone I represent. Often, that means pushing back against bullies that would seek to harm or marginalize my constituents. Yesterday’s attack on the Capitol was a powerful reminder that one of the biggest threats to the rights of my constituents is a man named Jody Hice. That’s why today, I, Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Mariah Parker, call for the removal of Congressman Hice from office for inciting and supporting insurrection, a willful violation of The Code of Laws of The United States of America.
For months, Hice has led the efforts to invalidate the presidential votes of my constituents and people across Georgia. He has hypocritically asserted that his own election to Congress was legitimate, while the elections of our Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not, even though these votes were all cast on the same machines and counted through the same election infrastructure. Despite the fact that claims of voter fraud have been roundly rejected by the courts, Hice continues to fan the flames of fascism that, on Wednesday, engulfed the Capitol in smoke.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Jody Hice cheered on the government’s overthrow by calling Wednesday “our 1776 moment.” To have a sitting Congressman not only undermine our democracy but speak with pride about violent attempts to overturn it should greatly trouble us all.
According to the The Code of Laws of the United States of America, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 115, section 2383, “Whoever incites… any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof… shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”
I therefore support Representative Cori Bush’s resolution to have Jody Hice and others who inspired yesterday’s attack removed from office, and invite all who are equally disturbed by Hice’s actions to sign onto her petition calling for their removal.
The 10th Congressional district deserves representation that will heal the divides in our country. Rhetoric alone cannot do this; to ensure the events of Wednesday are not repeated, we need bold transformative policy that uplifts the rural and urban working classes alike to make our country whole. Hice’s reprehensible actions have accelerated my decision to form an exploratory committee for a potential run for the GA-10 Congressional seat. In the coming months, we will bring together Georgians across GA-10 for discussion of what policies are needed to strengthen our communities and what our coalition should look like in order to win.
Parker is an experienced organizer and drew national attention when she was sworn in with a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 2018, which she could surely leverage into a strong fundraising effort. But outside of Athens, the 10th District is an extremely conservative area. Hice won contested races in 2014, 2018 and 2020 with over 60% of the vote despite a Democratic surge in Georgia the past two election cycles.
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