The People Drinking Coffee series in downtown Norcross on April 8 hosted Kelvin King, one of five Republicans running to be Georgia’s next Secretary of State in the May 19 primary.
King is a veteran and graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, earning the rank of captain after five years as a contracting officer. Following his military service, King returned to Georgia, where he eventually started his own construction firm, Osprey Management, which has been named one of metro Atlanta’s fastest-growing businesses.
The Georgia Secretary of State registers voters, tracks annual corporate filings, grants professional licenses, and oversees the state’s securities market. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is running for governor in the Republican primary, leaving the seat open.
Priorities as secretary of state
Kelvin, originally from Cobb County, lives with his wife Janelle, a member of the State Elections Board, in Sandy Springs. The Kings have a son and a one-month-old granddaughter. He said his office will employ values he learned in the military.
“I wasn’t that original, but Air Force core values are integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do,” King said. “That is going to be what I expect in every employee of the new secretary of state’s office.”
King said he believes there were serious problems and irregularities in recent elections, including 2020, and that many people doubt whether their votes were properly counted. While he acknowledged that three audits have confirmed the outcome, King said he remains skeptical.
“As your next secretary of state, one of my charges is going to make sure that everyone here raises their hand when anyone asks them if they were certain their vote counted,” King said. “I’m going to implement hand-marked paper ballots … The law says that every voter in Georgia must be able to verify their vote on paper before that vote is cast and tabulated.”
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King argues that the current secretary of state’s office has failed to be transparent and comply with state legislation. He said his platform is to rebuild trust via hand‑marked paper ballots, stronger audits, better voter‑roll management, and aggressive accountability for election administration.
“I think they’re trying to cover something up, personally,” King said. “I think they’re trying to cover up the amount of mistakes, or unqualified voters, that are on our voting list.”
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Republican primary
In contrast, Raffensperger has said the state is leading the way for election integrity, citing the Georgia General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 202 in 2021. A federal district court upheld the law last fall.
“SB 202 is about common sense: protecting voters from confusion, making sure every vote counts once, and keeping our elections free, fair, and secure,” Raffensperger said in September 2025. “The fact that the law keeps winning in court shows that Georgia is leading the way for election integrity.”
King is running against another Sandy Springs resident, Gabriel Sterling, a former chief operating officer for Raffensperger’s secretary of state’s office. Ted Metz and Vernon Jones are also on the Republican ticket.
King told Rough Draft Atlanta that he thinks his top competition in the Republican primary is between Sterling and state Rep. Tim Fleming, former chief of staff for Gov. Brian Kemp.
Republican candidates for secretary of state do not agree on whether to use hand-marked paper ballots or QR codes. The state legislature ended its annual session early Friday without a plan for new equipment to overhaul the state’s voting system by a July deadline.
On the other side of the aisle, four candidates are vying in the Democratic primary.
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If King wins the May 19 primary and goes on to win the general election in November, he and his wife confirmed that she would step down from her seat on the State Election Board to prevent any conflict of interest.
King shares his principles
King said his arguments and principles are rooted in the Bible, capitalism, and the U.S. Constitution.
“I believe the Constitution is there for a reason,” King said. “It’s not to create your rights, it’s to protect your God-given rights … I think sometimes, as politicians, as government, we kind of forget that, power goes to our head.”
Norcross residents listening to his stump speech asked several questions about his election-integrity platform. King pitched himself as a candidate who could get them answers.
One attendee asked him why he is running on the Republican ticket. King said he’s been a Republican since college, but grew up supporting the Democratic Party.
“Bill Clinton was the last Democrat president I’ve ever voted for, and that was back then,” King said. “Yeah, I’m just a Republican. I’m living the principles. They’ve worked in my life … By utilizing sound Republican principles, I’ve been able to get on my two feet, stand on my two feet, and create something sustainable.”
