AJC:

A political and legal standoff is underway in Catoosa County after the local GOP passed rules giving it the final say over who can qualify as a Republican and then this week refused to allow several contenders for the County Commission to run on the GOP ticket.

The party has repeatedly flouted Superior Court Judge Don Thompson’s order requiring it to allow four candidates — including three incumbent county commissioners — to run with an “R” by their name in the deep-red county.

The judge told deputies to record the candidates being rejected with their bodycams for court records, and then he threatened to slap a major fine on the Catoosa GOP if it doesn’t comply with his order.

On Friday, Thompson instructed the Catoosa Board of Elections — separate from the local GOP — to qualify the four candidates and indicated he could hold party officials in contempt if they don’t heed his warnings.

“This case is unprecedented given the intransigence of Respondents to the law and this Court’s repeated directives,” Thompson wrote in a Friday court order.

The party seems to be spoiling for a fight, arguing that the government can’t compel a political party to give up its rights to select candidates.